Zee to launch Khana Khazana today; two others, FoodFood & Food First, coming in six months
The pan is heating up in Indian television as more channels gear up to serve the audiences 24x7 food and cooking experiences. There has been a surge in interest in food as a genre as three new channels plan to go on air over the next six months.
First to be launched is Zee Khana Khazana on December 8. The channel will have shows in Hindi and English. It has also tied up with BBC. According to industry sources, Zee Entertainment will spend Rs 45-crore to launch and run the channel.
On why Zee is foraying into a niche category like food, MD and CEO, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, Punit Goenka said, "The way digitisation is growing, with direct-to-home (DTH) and even in the cable service, niche channels will only grow in importance. India has a sizeable audience who prefer to view niche content. We are not expecting the channel to have a mass following, but given its nature, it will definitely be followed by youngsters, women and even male chefs."
The name that Zee has chosen for the channel is of a show that ran on the network's flagship channel Zee TV for over a decade. Khana Khazana was hosted by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor. Interestingly, Kapoor's company, Turmeric Vision Pvt Ltd (TVPL), has tied up with Malaysia's Astro All Asia Networks (Astro) to launch another food channel FoodFood. The JV between the two companies marks the entry of Astro in the Indian media broadcasting industry. FoodFood will be launched in early 2011 as a Hindi language channel. The initial investments for the channel by Astro is Rs 122 crore.
Food being a niche segment, both channels are banking on subscription revenues. While Zee Khana Khazana will be available on Dish TV too , FoodFood will be available across various multi-media platforms such as DTH, IPTV, TV, mobile and web.
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Executive director for India and South Asia for Media, Astro group, Raghvendra Madhav said, “Today food is playing a central role in game shows, reality shows, travel and lifestyle shows and instructional shows where viewers learn to cook or hone their culinary skills, or just vicariously experience new cultures and cuisines. Our core target is the middle class Indian in urban towns and cities.”
Another channel, Food First, is also expected to go on air in 2011. The English language channel will be uplinked from Turner International’s broadcast earth station in Hong Kong and would be part of the newly launched Real Lifestyle Network.
"It will be a pay channel and available on both digital and analogue distribution platforms. It will target upwardly mobile English-speaking, 18-plus, male and female audiences. An analysis of television content reflects that food shows on lifestyle channels attract higher share of viewership and on the web, food related searches figure amongst the highest. With its unique positioning, we are confident that Food First will find resonance with all our stakeholders," said Manisha Tripathi, Business Head – Real Global Broadcasting Ltd.
Media planners and consultants believe food channels have a tough task at hand as shows on cookery and food are already available on general entertainment channels.
"The viewer will be spoilt for choices. The success of these channels would depend on the packaging, content and concept of the shows. A good amount of money also needs to be spent on marketing these shows to get sponsors," said Ashesh Jani, partner, Deloitte Haskins & Sells, India
The small audience numbers of the niche channels would further limit their fortunes in advertisement revenues. However, these channels could evolve as good alternatives for advertisers in the FMCG and other relevant sectors to reach their target audience without spending much on expensive general entertainment channels.
"These channels will primarily be subscription driven. However, if they manage to get the viewership numbers then they might evolve as options for advertisers from the FMCG and other relevant categories. For example, a dairy product owner or a cooking oil producer might find these channels more relevant to reach his/her target audience," said Harsha Joshi, COO-buying and content, Madison India.