Can &TV forge ahead and retain its edge?

Zee's new offering, like most second and third general entertainment channel launches in Hindi, is expected to increase network share

Is it Shah Rukh Khan's antics in India Poochega Sabse Shaana Kaun? Or is it Begusarai, a show set in the badlands of Bihar? Maybe it is Gangaa, the story of a child widow that brought &TV a gross viewership of over 91 million in the first five days of its existence. The Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) from the Zee network went on air on March 2. Analysts are already calling it the most successful TV channel launch since Viacom18's Colors in 2008. "The numbers will only grow from here," says an ebullient Punit Goenka, managing director and chief executive of the Rs 4,421-crore Zee Entertainment Enterprises.

If &TV can do 200 million in gross viewership consistently for the first six months, it could look at making money within two years, says a post-launch analysis by Kotak Institutional Equities. That is a tough one. A new GEC typically carries 20-22 hours of original programming a week with a cash-burn between Rs 700 and Rs 1,000 crore over 3-5 years. Getting a return on that kind of investment in the highly competitive Rs 43,000-crore Indian television industry is a challenge. More so because the Hindi GEC market is the most competitive segment in the television business in India. It gets the largest share of audience and revenues and has seen its fair share of failure -Imagine (NDTV), Real (Turner) and 9X.

But this goes way beyond just the launch of a new channel. "If &TV does well, then Zee plus &TV plus Zindagi plus Zee Anmol could narrow the gap with Star TV," says one TV veteran. Almost every major broadcaster has two or three GECs in Hindi. Sony has Sony Pal launched last year as well as the older Sab TV. Star has Life OK (a re-versioned Star One). "As long as you sharply position the second and third channel, it gets you a new set of audiences and revenues as well," says N P Singh, CEO, Multi Screen Media. While its flagship channel, Sony TV, has lost share, Multi Screen Media has more than made up with Sab TV and now, Sony Pal. It is overall in the second place in the Hindi general entertainment market after Star.

"A second channel can take revenues up by 50 per cent, assuming it is from an existing player that is strong," says Smita Jha, leader (entertainment and media practice), PwC India. "We (advertisers and media agencies) don't look at it as a channel but as 'audiences delivered'," explains K Satyanarayana, senior vice-president, RK Swamy Media Group. "As long as it is relevant, it doesn't matter whether it is the second or third GEC. That's just jargon."

 

Catching the viewers eye
This is how most broadcasters see it too. "In the digital era, the essence of a second and third GEC is to keep increasing network share," says L V Krishnan, CEO, TAM Media Research. Up to the time India's TV market was analog, the battle was for bandwidth. Now more than half of Indian TV homes have been digitised, and all of them should become so in two years. The problem is not about getting the bandwidth to launch a channel, but of having the muscle to get the revenue share you want from distributors. Already seven DTH (direct-to-home) operators control over 50 million TV homes. By the time digitisation is completed, four large cable companies and six-odd DTH operators will be controlling the 160-million-home market. That is when the networks with the maximum channels and viewership share will have negotiating power. Little wonder then that almost every major network has been plugging the gaps in its portfolio.

More than two-thirds of all television watching time in India is dominated by five large networks: Star, Sony, Zee, Sun and Network18. Of these, Star and Zee have the strongest national portfolios with channels in almost every major Indian language. More channels within the same genre can substantially reduce programming costs and improve cross-promotion efficiencies. So &TV is simply one part of strengthening the share of Zee network in the Hindi category.

READING THE AUDIENCE’S MIND

In 2013, Zee TV aired Connected Hum Tum. The show, hosted by Abhay Deol, followed six real-life women through the ups and downs of their daily lives. It fell flat. “There is a lot of content we can’t put on Zee,” says Punit Goenka, managing director and CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises. That is when the whole idea of &TV was born. It took 15 months from idea to launch with some serious research thrown in. The research covered 36,000 people and characterised Hindi audiences into four groups: traditional (19 per cent), flamboyant (27 per cent), contemporary (34 per cent) and millennial (20 per cent). &TV’s target is the contemporary Indian.

Most second and third GECs have been born out of research and ratings data. Sony works in more one-million-plus towns, upper SECs and has a balanced male-female audience. Sab TV (which Sony acquired in 2005) works across SECs and markets and has a male skew. “Based on research, we wanted to launch a channel for female audiences in small-towns. In the limited time that Sony Pal has been around, it has an over 65 per cent female skew,” says N P Singh, CEO, Multi Screen Media. Similar work took place just before Star zeroed in on Life Ok too. And that is what pushed Zee to experiment with Zindagi and Anmol (a free-to-air channel).

The winning formula
The new channel's success, however, will hinge on two things. First, a consistently high viewership that comes from gaining the "contemporary" viewership it promises. While Khan ensured that people flocked to &TV on launching, what kept the viewers there, going by the numbers, was Gangaa. Coincidentally, Sphere Origins, the company behind Balika Vadhu which gave Colors its wings, is also the producer of Gangaa. "None of the content will appeal to the young," says a rival broadcaster. "Gangaa is about a child widow, Razia Sultan is not likely to attract young people. Begusarai may appeal only to males." Adds Satyanarayana: "Younger viewers are more into format shows - comedy, romance or game shows."

Then, success will also depend on the channel's ability to expand the market without eating into either Zee or any other channel's share within the Hindi section. "The content on &TV is quite bold and edgy and we are reaching the audience we wanted to reach - more male inclusive, young family, contemporary mind-set," avers Goenka. "And we have expanded the genre."

It may have. But it will be six months or more before it is clear that this wasn't a flash in the pan.