Sony highest gainer in week 33, Life OK back to five 22 August 2013 03:05 pm | InSearchindia.com Team

Sony highest gainer in week 33, Life OK back to five 22 August 2013 03:05 pm | InSearchindia.com Team

MUMBAI: In the week 33 of TAM TV ratings, Hindi GECs seems to be in a shuffle mood. Unlike last week, where Life OK had surpassed Sony and Sab, this week Life OK is back to its fifth position. Sony is the highest gainer this week as it added 48,804 TVTs (Television Viewership in thousands) taking its cumulative to 349,377 GVTs (Gross Viewership in thousands) (300,573 last week). Viacom18 Group’s mainstay Colors was the next highest gainer holding on to the number two slot adding 18,648 TVTs taking its tally to 456,414 GVTs (437,766).  Other GECs have seen a fall in their GVTs. Though Star Plus continues to be the leader and has maintained its stability as it reported 489,692 GVTs (505,715), Zee TV holds number three slot and registered 415,506 GVTs (424,270). While, Life OK who was the highest gainer last week, it witnessed a drop to report 303,478 GVTs (315,728). Sab remains stagnant at 293,433 GVTs (298,326). Coming back to the leader Star Plus, Diya aur Baati Hum proved to be the star yet again and as it rated 11,166 TVTs (10,356). Another prime time show, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai saw a huge rise in its reach taking its score to 7,284 TVTs (6,542). Pyar Ka Dard Hai fared well with 6,503 TVTs (6,233) and Saathiya registered 5,949 TVTs (5,525). A special event named Saath Hai Hum Uttarakhand that aired on 15 August didn’t fare too well and rated 1,107 TVT. New reality show Junior Master Chef saw a good start as it rated 4,277 TVT. Colors' popular celebrity dance reality show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa is on the winning side this week when it generated 5,826 TVTs (5,299) on Saturday and 5,047 TVTs (4,503) on Sunday. Long running fiction series Balika Vadhu witnessed a drop and scoring 6,276 TVTs (6,644), Madhubala - Ek Ishq Ek Junoon rated 4,304 TVTs (4,396) and Uttaran scored 4,839 TVTs (4,508). The comedy show Comedy Nights with Kapil saw a marginal rise and generated 6,847 TVTs (6,831). The new entrant on the channel Mrs Pammi Pyarelal witnessed a fall as it rated 1,575 TVTs (1,766). Zee TV's reality dance show DID Super Moms with its outstanding performances notched up and rated 5,893 TVTs (5,551) on Saturday and 5,498 TVTs (4,349) on a Sunday. Its new show Do Dil Bandhe Ek Dori Se started off well with 5,341 TVT. Its fictional offering Qubool Hai saw a rise and rated 7,435 TVTs (7,188). Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke registered a slight rise taking its score to 4,386 TVTs (4,332). The historical show Jodha Akbar observed a huge growth scoring 6,011 TVTs (5,547). Fourth placed, Sony Entertainment Television's long running crime series CID scored 5,210 TVTs (5,177) and Crime Petrol saw a slight fall when it rated 3,815 TVTs (3,859). On the other hand, Comedy Circus ke Ajoobe Mahabali witnessed a dropdown 2,482 TVTs (2,816). The channel's historical show Maharana Pratap managed to remain close to its last week's ratings, generating 3,028 TVTs (3,139). Other fiction shows either held on to their viewership or dipped marginally during the week. Sony's Indian Idol Junior had a good viewership on Saturday reporting 4,529 TVTs (4,351), but seems to lose its audiences on Sunday scoring 4,279 TVTs (4,602). Its new entrant Jee Le Zara scored 2,620 TVTs on the starting day i.e 15 August. Fifth placed, Life OK’s top series Mahadev rated 3,426 TVTs (3,493). Do Dil Ek Jaan scored 1,721 TVTs (1,783), Savdhan India rated 2,653 TVTs (2,867), Shapath saw a rise with 3,352 TVTs (3,088) and the new entrant Gustakh Dil rated 1,624 TVTs (1,884). Sixth placed, Sab's top chart fiction show Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah continues to be the channel leader with 7,070 TVTs (7,032). Chidiya Ghar lost its audiences and scored 3,262 TVTs (3,412). Jeanie Aur Juju saw a fall when it reported 2,049 TVTs (2,490). Other fictional shows witnessed marginal rise and fall as well. Sahara One continues to remain in the bottom scoring 34,398 TVTs (32,326). In the movie channel's genre: Zee Cinema saw a rise, reporting 252,322 GVTs (228,837); Star Gold witnessed a fall with 215,873 GVTs (219,247) and Movies OK saw slight improvement and rated 137,781 GVTs (122,304). On the other hand, Max reported 213,437 GVTs (232,253). Let's wait and watch, how the channels fare in the coming week...

SAB

Sab TV revamps look; announces marketing initiatives

By Mohini Mishra Posted on 22 June 2013

Comedy general entertainment channel (GEC) SAB TV has added vibrant colours and new motifs to its channel and show packaging, which went on air from 9 pm onwards on 21 June.

Argentinian design studio Steinbranding was hired for the revamp.

The Sab team is pushing aggressively on all fronts

"Our new look signifies renewed freshness and a positive move into the future, truly articulating the spirit of 'Asli Mazaa SAB Ke Saath Aata Hai'. We have only changed the clothing of the show, but retained the content, concept and basic colours. We have also added more designs which is relayed between soaps," said SAB TV EVP & business head Anooj Kapoor at a conference held at JW Marriot Hotel.

And in order to further propagate the fact that it has a fresher and peppier look it has put together quite a few promotional films on the lines of its existing 'Sab Ka Wakt Ata Hai' called "Saas-bahu," "Mooch" and "Hands-Up."

The channel's management announced that it is going the whole hog on digital with online games and applications. One of these is 'Sabarbia', a one of its kind social game, which has attracted 75,000 people in the past two months.

The Sony senior management (from L to R) SabTV head Anooj Kapoor, MSM CEO Man Jit Singh, MSM COO NP Singh: applauding SabTV's success and driving it into the future

The channel has also launched a loyalty program called 'Sab ki Sawari', through which viewers are rewarded for watching its shows for longer durations: they get a chance to meet their favourite actors on the sets of different Sab shows. "Then we have school programmes called Sab ki Paathshala that aims to engage with a younger audience by providing them with interactive learning experience," added Kapoor.

Then SabTV has integrated free applications including, SAB Ke Comics - a mobile app available on iOS and Android smart phones. The application has over 100 comic strips of six shows cracking jokes on five popular characters of Sab. The five characters which have been animated include: SAB ka Gadha, SAB ka Gopi, SAB Ka Gulgule, SAB ka Mama and SAB ki Jeannie. "The application has already registered 200,000 users," informed Kapoor.

Apart from this, Sab has rolled out 'SAB Khelo SAB Jeeto,' an unique game show that can be played with the entire family. The game show enables fans and consumers to participate and win gifts and merchandise.

60 per cent of the channel's total promotional budget is set aside for TV advertising, 30 per cent for print and the remaining 10 per cent for out-of-home advertising and others. "As far as digital media is concerned, we have not made any investments. It is just a platform for us to drive the audience to television," said Kapoor.

The channel has gone in for oodles of activation in malls, Big Bazaar, Cafe Coffee Days and multiplexes and has a huge outdoor presence - over 700-800 hoardings pan India, excluding Mumbai. "In Mumbai, we have placed our hoardings in over 100 bus shelters in residential areas," said a source.

The faith that both Sony Entertainment COO N.P. Singh and Kapoor have had in taking the comedy route for the channel five years ago seems to have been well-placed when one looks at its success today.

"Our ratings have gone up by 600 per cent and revenues by 900 per cent in the last five years. We have seen a surge in advertisers from 25 in 2008 to 80 plus now. With its current presence in the US, the UK, Australia and South Africa, the channel will soon expand to Dubai," Kapoor informed.

Can Sony’s new offering ‘Live it up’?

Can Sony’s new offering ‘Live it up’? By Seema 22 August 2013 08:00 pm | InSearchindia.com Team

MUMBAI: Every Thursday is a reality check for the channels and its shows. And more so when it gets a new show onboard. The success of any marketing campaign is reflected in the ratings and so when Sony Entertainment Television launched its new soap Kehta Hai Dil…Jee Le Zara, it built a big marketing campaign to create the right buzz to get good viewership numbers. Sony which is the highest gainer this week, as it added 48,804 TVTs (Television Viewership in thousands) taking its cumulative to 349,377 GVTs (Gross Viewership in thousands) (300,573 last week), launched Jee Le Zara, on 15 August in the 9:30 pm slot. The show which entered into a very competitive time slot with Star Plus’s Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai and Zee TV’s Qubool Hai ruling the ratings chart in this time slot, has received 2,620 TVTs in its launch week and all this after some good marketing campaigns. “Every time slot today is competitive, we need to get audiences and so created a huge marketing campaign to inform people of the new show,” says SET senior VP & head-marketing Gaurav Seth. From a ‘Van Flag Off’ by Sangeeta Ghosh, the protagonist of the show to running of Twitter contests, the channel went a whole hog to hit the right cord with its audiences. The promotional activity started with the three promos shot for television. “Similarly, we had radio spots, which spoke on Sangeeta’s character in the show. We also launched a big multi-media print campaign on the day of launch of the soap which sustained till the first week of it going on air,” informs Seth. To sustain pressure and ensure that the promos went viral, the channel launched several social media activities and outdoor innovations. “One of this was when on 13 and 14 August we had a Jee Le Zara bus ferrying women from one part of the city to the other. The idea was to inform people of Sangeeta’s return on TV and also to promote the idea of Jee Le Zara,” he comments. The channel which launched the #Jee le zara moment contest on Twitter received over 7700 tweets with nearly 5.37 million people joining the conversation. “We were trending on Twitter on the launch day,” he informs.  The channel also ran promos of the show in major cinema chains nationwide for one week during the screening of Chennai Express. With Sony targeting not only the metros, but also UP, Rajasthan and Gujarat, with a 360 degree marketing campaign, we wonder if the numbers are enough when compared to the 7,435 TVTs of Qubool Hai and 7,284 TVTs of  Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai. The show will need some catching up to do in the coming weeks.

Sony's romantic gamble with the 9:30 pm slot 10 August 2013 11:54 pm | InSearchindiacom Team

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MUMBAI: From 9:30 pm onwards this independence day, Sony Entertainment Television has ambitions to gives to its viewers a breath of fresh air. How? Well! One, the channel launches its new series Kehta Hai Dil…Jee Le Zara and two through this show, it brings back the queen of romance on TV, Sangeeta Ghosh. "Sony stands for hope, aspirations and happiness and so does the show," says SET chief operating officer N.P Singh. Sony which aims at strengthening its fiction genre is continuously looking at fresh concepts. "We were looking for content which was different and we came across this. It was relatable and real, like most of our shows. It is a kind of story that you will see Sony doing," he adds. Kehta Hai Dil…Jee Le Zara is a simple concept and has evolved from everyday stories Kehta Hai Dil…Jee Le Zara is a story of Saanchi who is modern yet traditional. "It is a simple concept and has evolved very much from everyday stories. Today, for a lot of women, marriage may not be the first preference," says Rose Audio Visuals producer Shristhi Arya, who is known for doing off beat and sophisticated soaps like Lipstick, Guns and Roses, Remix, Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na and Twinkle Beauty Parlour. "With increasing aspirations, both love and marriage are pushed aside. Also the fact that a lot of interaction takes place among colleagues who are of different age groups, falling in love with a younger man is easier," says Arya explaining the storyline. Arya feels that television has the responsibility to reflect the sign of the times "And this is a sign of 'A' particular zone of people," she adds. Sony stands for hope, aspirations and happiness and so does the show, says N.P Singh The show will be replacing Parvarish which currently runs in the 9:30 pm slot. "Parvarish has been on air for the past two years and has had a successful tenure. The time was right to replace it with a newer and fresher show," informs Sony EVP & business head Sneha Rajani. Apparently, both the channel and the producer feel that the new show's storyline has a fit with the aspirational needs of the core Sony viewer. "Through Sony I have got a platform which has the exact audience that I am looking for my soap," informs Arya. The story is about a family living in the beautiful hill station of Panchgani. "It was the script that excited me the most. It is a simple story of simple characters and this is what got me to direct the soap," reveals show director Siddharth Sengupta who has earlier helmed dramas like Balika Vadhu and Ek Chabhi Pados Mein. The crew which started filming in end-July has recreated the feel of Panchgani in Film City located in Goregaon in Mumbai. "We are shooting 12-13 hours daily and have currently shot approximately six episodes. We need to build a bank, because once the show goes on air we will be only meeting deadlines," reveals Sengupta. Shristhi Arya feels that television has the responsibility to reflect the sign of the times we are in The main protagonists are Sangeeta Ghosh (Des Mein Niklla Hoga Chand fame) and Ruslaan Mumtaz who made his debut in Bollywood through Mera Pehla Pehla Pyaar. While Ghosh plays Saanchi, Mumtaz will be seen as Dhruv. The other characters are Sulabha Deshpande and Meenakshi Sethi, who will play the two grandmothers, Delnaz Irani who plays Dilshad, Nabeel Ahmed will be seen as Advait and Priyanka Sidana will be seen as Prachi. The story has been written by Niranjan Iyengar and the screenplay and dialogues are by Arjun and Purva respectively. The main sponsor for the show is L'oreal Paris Total Repair 5. Sony is using a 360 degree marketing campaign to lure in audiences to the channel. The channel has appointed MOMS Outdoor Media Solutions for managing OOH activities. "We will be marketing the show on TV, radio, print, digital and also hoardings," informs Rajani. The channel has shot three promos and also shot three to four countdown promos, which are airing currently. Apart from this, the marketing campaign will also involve a print ad on the day the show goes on air. The show is a clutter breaker, says Sneha Rajani The show will face stern competition from Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai on Star Plus, Qubool Hai on Zee TV and Na Bole Tum Na Maine Kuchh Kaha: Season 2 on Colors. Does Sony have any strategy to deal with this competition, answers Singh, "Well, competition is a reality. Within the very aggressive competitive market, you have to differentiate the niche. Sony in its last 17 years has always run shows which are different from the rest and that has set us apart and we continue to follow that strategy." With reality shows working better for Sony, why add another fiction soap in the already cluttered fiction genre? Says Rajani, "We consciously decided two years back to focus more on fiction shows. We had gone a little weak in capturing viewers in the fiction space and so decided to focus more on the fiction genre." "Also we currently have two reality shows Indian Idol Junior and Comedy Circus running on our channel. Kaun Banega Crorepati will also hit TV screens soon. All this leaves us with no space for any more reality shows," she adds. So what's new in the soap that will help it get good TVTs? "It is a clutter breaker. From the time the promos went up, I have been receiving messages from people who can relate to this story. It is not drama, but the journey of an independent, yet responsible woman," comments Rajani. "Fiction today is the mainstay for every GEC. People want to see fresh content. Now how well the programme does depends on its content and whether it has been able to add some freshness to it. If it can engage its audiences, it will surely do well," says Madison Media Group, Bangalore COO Dinesh Rathore. The channel will soon see a row of new soaps replacing the current ones. But for this slot, it is surely placing a big bet that viewers will bite. Will keeping the show simple for people to believe in it, help the channel record increased TVTs? With the channel falling off to the fifth position in this general entertainment channel space, Sony must surely be praying it will.

The Trai ad cap fall out..

The Trai ad cap fall out

Insearchindia.com Team

(31 May 2013 9:15 pm)

MUMBAI: The Indian broadcasting industry is in a tizzy following the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)'s binding decision to implement a 12 minute per hour ad cap effective from October 1.  The ad cap will understandably have an adverse effect on broadcasters' inventories which help them generate an estimated Rs 14,000 crore in advertising revenues. And this could also impact their survival, because most of them are dependent on sale of their respective advertising inventories at a good price. All in all, it could well turn turn out to be a very expensive regulation. Colors Raj Nayak - Hike was inevitable... General entertainment channels like Colors and Star have already announced that they will be raising ad rates by 30 per cent and 20 per cent respectively. This move does not really come as a surprise for many, as Colors CEO Raj Nayak explains: "We would have anyway done our annual hike by about 10-15 per cent so as to be able to absorb the increase in costs of programming, production etc. We have not still seen the full impact of digitisation in the form of either a fair share of reduction in carriage fees or an increase in subscription revenue, and with the inventory cap becoming a reality, we are left with no option but to increase our advertising rates to be able to stay on course." The hike in ad rates on Colors will be effective from July 1 but one wonders will it work in a marketplace where negotiation is a norm and prices are anyway discounted by up to 30 per cent? To this Nayak asserts: "We are here for the long term and we value our relationships with our clients. We will work closely with them to arrive at a win win situation. Having said that I believe, clients who are paying least will have the biggest impact." The channel has done all its calculations based on its revenue objectives, annual rate increases and has arrived at the 30 per cent hike figure, which Nayak says is what the channel needs on an average to stay on course. Star India CEO Uday Shankar preferred to keep his cards close to his chest. He said, "I cannot talk about our strategy." However, the ad rate hike may also drive advertisers towards lower priced outlets and other lesser crowded genres. Vikas Khanchandani - Consumption of inventories on under-leveraged channels will improve. AIDEM director Vikas Khanchandani says: "Both GEC and Niche play different roles for different advertisers and the weight-age applied are depending on the need of the brand. The hike in advertising rates is to bridge the gap from reduction in available inventory to broadcasters on account of the decision by TRAI on the cap. Each broadcaster or channel will increase their rates basis their current P&L and the impact of reduction in airtime over what they are currently selling over the cap and/ or any other escalation in input costs. The consumption of inventories on under-leveraged channels will rise." In that case, will GECs bother about inventories being spread over to niche channels and other outlets? "That's not such a bad thing. The truth is there is already an overflow of inventory on GEC channels even without the cap, and with the cap the supply demand ratio will change dramatically," says Nayak. The ad cap is thus affecting one and all, so wouldn't the niche channels want to go the GEC way and hike their ad rates as well? Do we see the rate hike spreading across the ecosystem- news, niche, etc or to other mediums? Nayak replies in the affirmative saying: "We believe this problem of supply-demand will also spill over to the Niche, Music, Sports & News & movie channels too. So I will not be surprised if they too will be forced to re-look at their advertising rates. I would like to believe that with the pipe getting choked, these channels too will not be left with an option but to increase their ad rates, unless they have a magic wand or a secret formula." A magic wand or not, all broadcasters general entertainment or niche would do all that they can to lessen the adverse impact of the impending ad cap. Offering a media buyer's perspective ZenithOptimedia partner Navin Khemka said that the smaller channels that sometimes run as much as 25 minutes of ads in an hour will find it difficult to sustain themselves. "They will take a big hit if they are not able to increase the effective rate. The ones who run 12-15 minutes should be fine. The key is to be a top three player in a genre. Then you should be alright and manage a hike. At the moment it is hard to say what kind of a rate hike channels can manage. You also have to consider the fact that sometimes annual deals are done. Channels will either try their best to honour them which they should or do some restructuring." In terms of ratings he thinks that the issue of variance in numbers will resolved in a couple of months time. "It is actually in the channels interest that the fluctuation continues as then they can say that they are not responsible for the poor delivery." A+E Networks| TV18 VP, head marketing Sangeetha Aiyer offers a different take saying that for the factual and lifestyle genres increasing rates might not be feasible. "The current economic environment is difficult. The ad market is not great. With the slowdown most genres apart from the Hindi GECs are facing a revenue crunch. Also packaging in digital cable has not happened. Tam also has to get its house in order. FMCGs account for 40 per cent of the factual genres revenue. So ratings do play a role especially since factual channels have language feeds." So what is the way forward? She notes that doing more local properties is one way as for that channels could charge a premium. "The aim should be to conceptualise ideas that can work as a tentpole which is what we did for 'The Greatest Indian'. Of course for that you have to earmark monies for production, marketing. I would have preferred it if the ad cap had come once digitisation was complete. We normally air 15 seconds of ads." MSM Rohit Gupta - It's a demand-supply equation. MultiScreenMedia (MSM) president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta declined to talk about his channel's strategy. He however added that it is likely that most genres will go in for a rate hike. "If you don't then you will lose money. It is a demand supply equation. Market forces will take over. You could see a situation where clients look at more genres and channels given the shortage of available inventory on channels that they frequently use." Times Television Trigunayat - Movies Now to hike rates by 50% Movies Now is looking at a 50 per cent rate hike in the coming six months. Times Television Network CEO English entertainment channels Ajay Trigunayat is in favour of the reduced inventory. "English movie channels air around 15 minutes of ads in an hour. What was happening was that channels in other genres were abusing inventory and airing as much as 20 minutes an hour. This compromised the effective rate in the English movie genre. Now the viewer experience will be better. Less ads will result in more stickiness for the genre which will also justify a rate hike. Overall I expect ad rates in the English movie genre to grow by 25 -30 per cent." Trigunayat concedes that the 50 per cent hike target is ambitious. "But we always set out ambitious targets for ourselves. In the short term there will be issues. I expect resistance from clients. But things will iron themselves out. A clearer picture of various channels' strategies will emerge by August. On our part we are not getting the rate that we feel we deserve. Generally for a new player clients wait to see the response that the channel is getting. The other challenge has been TAM ratings which have seen big fluctuations. Our rate has been flat for the past six months and fluctuations in the ratings have played a part in that. The ratings could take over a year to settle down. Clients therefore will have to look at other metrics like brand positioning, quality of the content etc. We also have to spend more time convincing clients". On the issue of rating fluctuations Gupta conceded that there is a trust issue. "At the same time clients do not only use ratings. There is qualitative analysis that goes into media buying. Clients do their research. Over the past five years Sony's inventory has stayed the same. Yet we manage revenue growth of 20-30 per cent as we hike rates." Asked if less inventory on more mainstream genres will benefit the English movie genre Trigunayat noted that English movie channels are already running at full capacity. "If you look at players whether it is us or Star Movies, HBO, Pix their inventory is full. They will all increase rates. Clients will benefit if they book spots now well in advance which is what happens in the US." Neo Sports Krishnan - Ad cap unfair on sports genre Neo Sports Broadcast COO Prasana Krishnan said that the ad cap is unfair on the sports genre as breaks happen according to the sports action going on rather than on the basis of the clock. "Sometimes you might not have much of an ad break in an hour. Sometimes you might have more if there is a live cricket telecast. I would have preferred it if the rule was an average of 12 minutes an hour in a day. Then things would have evened out". The news genre is not left unaffected by this development. An industry insider points out that the government should be more considerate towards news broadcasters. "You cannot reduce our ad inventories while you do nothing about the enormous burden of carriage fees that we have to bear." He further adds that unless the carriage fee is brought down substantially and subscription revenues are also looked at, the ad cap compulsion is unfair. There must be a considerable drop in carriage fees wherein a network of 2-3 channels has to pay approximately Rs 10 crore - Rs 12 crore while single channels pay not more than Rs 2 crore - Rs 3 crore, he said. Khanchandani adds: "Impact on news will be different from that of niche. News is most impacted by the decision and have to significantly increase their own rates on account of very high dependence on ad time. If the increase in GEC pricing is very steep the advertiser might optimise the plans in favour of some genres but as I mentioned it depends on the requirement of the brand." A CEO of a news channel while refusing to come on record admitted that "the news broadcasting industry will also look at hiking ad rates because even our inventories are being adversely affected." In such a complex scenario based on the government and business environment, the advertiser's target audience and consequent decision remains the bone of contention. After all, with the impending digitisation, there is a lot of ambiguity revolving around which channels are reaching the audience and which are not. Khanchandani gives some perspective: "The television platform continues to be an effective medium for advertisers at large and I strongly believe in the medium. The impact will be varied across genres and channels. It's a function of demand and supply and their respective state of inventory utilisation. Fundamentally prices will go up across channels and inventory utilisation across under leveraged channels will improve." GECs are confident of their loyal advertisers; as Nayak puts it: "The advertising market is buoyant, I see a reasonable growth this year over previous year and we believe as long as we deliver value people will continue to invest in our channel."

How Sony Entertainment is driving its online ambitions.

How Sony Entertainment is driving its online ambitions

Nitesh Kripalani is a man on a mission. His weapons: a MacBook Pro, a high tech smartphone and a 3G internet connection. His battleground: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the oceanic mobile app market. Kripalani spearheads the very dynamic 'digital team' of 10-15 young and passionate social networking experts at Sony Entertainment Television (SET). It is his responsibility to create a virtual and online connect for hundreds of millions of Sony Entertainment Network Television viewers - in India and worldwide. Kripalani is one of the masterminds of the digital revolution that has gripped India's Hindi general entertainment TV channels (GECs).

The future of television could very well be digital. What could not have even been imagined a decade ago is now an indispensable part of our television viewing experience. Social interactivity with viewers at home is now just a 'comment' away. 'Tweet' and express your views on the latest twist and plot of your favorite daily serial. Guess what? The future is here and how!

Catching up with the pulse of the audiences, Multi Screen Media's (MSM's) Hindi GECs Sony and SAB have carved out an online indent for themselves. The need for making their presence felt on the dynamic platform of new media urged Sony to gradually devise a social media integrated communication plan around three years ago.

Let's consider the statistics to gauge the digital reach of the two GECs of SET.

Sony and SAB both have an official Facebook profile and Twitter handle with a commendable fan base. While Sony's Facebook page boasts of around 0.17 million likes with 7,500 plus facebookers talking about it, SAB has 50,249 likes and 2,649 active followers. The quintessential TV viewing audience is increasingly engaging on Facebook. Then its official Facebook pages for its TV shows tot up large numbers. Its iconic Ram Kapoor and Sakshi Tanwar starring Bade Acche Lagte Hai Facebook page has 0.7 million likes with 21,000 active followers. The official page of its Kaun Banega Crorepati has 0.35 million likes with 6,700 active followers and the show's registrations have yet to start. Crime Patrol has knocked up 0.1 million likes with 3,800 active followers. The long running CID, which garners huge ratings for the channel, however has a comparatively low 33,000 likes with 1,110 active followers.

The thirst to know more about their favourite shows is quenched on these Facebook pages. Sony constantly updates these with pictures and teasers of upcoming episodes. The buzz is also kept alive by the Sony's TV show addicts who go to make up its fandom. When looking at a channel's Facebook presence, fan driven pages cannot be left in isolation. A lot of action takes place through these fan pages. Look for Bade Acche Lagte Hai, Sony's popular fiction show, in the Facebook search bar and chances are that you will be looking at 10 active Facebook pages with as the most popular sporting close to 0.25 million, with 40,000 fans being active.

Twitter, being an indispensable aspect of social media, cannot be left out. And it is here where the Sony Network has to buck up and it lags behind its rivals Star and Colors. Hindi GEC Sony has an active twitter handle with around 7,500 followers, while SAB follows with approximate 4,500 followers. @SonyTv is buzzing with tweets and re-tweets every couple of hours.

What more? The numerous fan-driven handles of their popular shows are busy re-tweeting and sharing every Sony update, making for a huge cacophony of views across the digital world.

Ironically, the Facebook and Twitter fan base is just the tip of the iceberg. What takes the cake is Sony's official YouTube channel which has one of the most massive subscriber's bases in India of nearly 1.6 million and a humongous video views count of over 660 million. SAB has its own share of digital audience with around 28 thousand subscribers and 190 million video views. Ever since Set India joined YouTube on 20 September 2006, it has uploaded 1,69,994 videos so far and counting. No wonder, Sony leads most other GECs in the rat race of YouTube subscribers.

In order to aggregate all its social media activities under one umbrella, SET India launched a vibrant and ‘lively' Sony Liv this January. Sony Liv is a branded website cum app which is slowly but surely gaining momentum which has generated nearly two million downloads on android and iOS platforms. The official Sony Liv Facebook page has over 0.12 million likes. In five months, the branded site has attracted around 12 thousand followers with 15 million videos watched so far. The fans are more than happy to catch up with not only the latest episodes of their favourite on-going shows, but also remain loyally connected with their beloved shows which have gone off air.

All in all, SET has done it all from having an official Facebook page to its twitter handle; from one of the largest YouTube channels to a newly launched Sony Liv. The numbers are heartening! On an average, each YouTube upload by Sony garners as many as 25 thousand video views! The episodes are uploaded within two hours of telecast and by the next day, the newly discovered online audience has watched it repeatedly.

Bade Acche Lagte Hai leads the race on Sony's YouTube channel. The adorable middle-aged married couple - Ram and Priya have a dedicated fan-following of around 35 thousand viewers who watch every episode within a couple of days. Next in the YouTube popularity index stands the veteran fiction-crime show CID, which continues to garner a massive count of more than 30 thousand video views for each episode.

We have finally entered the era where the quintessential TV viewing audience is engaging on the digital platforms. Who knows, in the not so distant future, our stereotyped Saas-bahu sagas will drive a lot more traction online than what the TRP's tell us now!

Sony began targeting the online space around three years ago. The first phase focused on handphones with the Indian Idol audition mobile registrations and special Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) apps. The second phase promoted the Sony YouTube channel and the third phase which continues today, involves the development and promotion of its own branded website-cum-app Sony Liv.

Sony Entertainment Network SVP – new media, business development and digital/syndication Nitesh Kripalani says: "We have covered all social media platforms from mobile to our own branded site that is the newly launched Sony Liv. It is an integrated marketing communications approach. We look at the online space as the means to reach maximum audience. The main aim is - first, to interact with and engage with our audiences and get their valuable feedback; second, to spread the word and promote our shows through this mass medium; and finally third, it is to monetise the online traffic."

Kripalani estimates that the Indian digital market is Rs 1,000 crore - Rs 1,500 crore out of which approximately Rs 200 crore constitutes the mobile market; the rest is left to digital. Understandably, this digital revolution has opened up a whole new universe for revenue generation.

Sony derives its online revenue through its existing advertising associations. Last year, Sony's official YouTube channel earned significant online revenue from brands like Axis bank, MTS and Maruti that sponsored popular shows like KBC and Indian Idol.

As far as social media such as Facebook and Twitter go, Kripalani says, "Currently, our goal is not one of maximum monetisation. In fact, we believe the platform must be primarily used for reaching out to our viewers. Perhaps a year from now, we may look at subscription based content following a premium model where 80 per cent of the content is free while the rest is paid for."

Sony Liv has been attractively packaged with several elements including videos, photos, behind the scenes videos and archived content. Some of the older shows like Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi, Aahat, Heena and older episodes of Crime Patrol, Comedy Circus and CID receive considerable traction as well. This content that was otherwise rendered useless after the shows went off air is now being made to eke out revenues through digital media.

Comparatively, among on-air shows, fiction has an upper-hand over non -fiction shows. Kripalani reasons, "Fiction series dominate the most watched content online because of loyal viewers who watch episodes repeatedly. However special episodes of non-fiction shows like Indian Idol, Comedy Circus or a KBC attract thousands of views. Fiction series have a consistent following which is understandably missing in case of non-fiction."

Sony's revenue from its online initiatives runs into millions of dollars. Yet the network has not moved into producing web exclusive content like some of the other Hindi GECs. However, Kripalani does not dismiss a possibility of producing such content in the future. "As the market expands and becomes more receptive, we will look at generating content exclusively for the web. Let's say in the next year and a half, Sony Liv will be the one stop destination for exclusive web content. After all, the digital platform is very profitable and is growing rapidly," he concludes.

IPL's TV ratings on sticky wicket but advertisers unfazed.

IPL's TV ratings on sticky wicket but advertisers unfazed


The recent spot-fixing scandal and the beating the Indian Premier League (IPL) brand is taking because of it are not the only worries for the sporting extravaganza. Its all-India TV ratings (TVR), too, are falling, as the enthusiasm among television viewers during the first few matches seems to be fizzling out.

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In the first six weeks (59 matches), the average all-India TVR slipped to 2.9 — down 14 per cent from that in the previous season. In the Hindi-speaking markets (HSM), it was down 15 per cent to 3.