Times TV - second coming

In the early 1990s, Bennett, Coleman & Co made a presentation to Star TV, which wanted to launch a Hindi channel in India.

Among the other contenders for a partnership with Star, then owned by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-Shing, were the Dalmias, publishers of "The Sunday Mail." However, an unknown rice trader Subhash Chandra pipped others to the post to form a joint venture company with Star called Asia Today Limited.

Though Bennett, Coleman & Co's TV software division Times TV dabbled in television content for a while, it eventually faded out a few years later. Both Star and Chandra's Zee, on the other hand, went on to become India's leading broadcasting companies.

This year, however, India's premier newspaper publishing company which runs, among other publications, "The Times of India" and "The Economic Times," will be bursting on Indian television screens with a bouquet of satellite channels.

On the cards is a non-fiction entertainment channel by the end of September, to be followed by a spriritual channel. Its business channel is expected to hit the small screen in the third quarter of 2005.

Bennett, Coleman & Co managing director Vineet Jain is driving the Rs 300 crore plus television initiative. The company's president, Arun Arora, who heads the TV business, is quick to point out that the managing director is attending to the project personally. "The entire Times TV initiative is his concept and passion," says Arora.

First off the block will be Zoom, a fashion, music, events and Page 3 lifestyle channel, conceived by Jain. Zoom will target the young "� in the 18-34 age group "� in the metros. "It's a channel for upmarket city viewers," says Arora. Most programmes on the glamour and lifestyle channel will be in Hindi or Hinglish.

"We are creating shows that meet the aspirations and interests of metrosexuals," he adds. The company is buying nearly 40 per cent of its content from established software producers (Balaji Telefilm is apparently doing a show with Ekta Kapoor's astrologer).

However, 60 per cent of the content will be produced in-house and Zoom's chief operating officer, Apurva Purohit, will spearhead a programming team of 15 to 20 people.

"The channel identity has been created by a Los Angeles-based firm and we promise that it will be a high-profile and high-gloss channel," Arora says.

While Zoom has 90 employees on board, Bennett, Coleman expects the TV venture to employ nearly 400 people once all its channels are on air. The spiritual channel, which may take off later this year, is headed by Ravi

Bhatnagar, a Times Music executive. Unlike "discourses"-led channels such as "Aastha" and "Sanskaar," Bennet, Coleman promises that its product will be a "mind, body and soul kind of channel." And yes, there will be advertising on this channel too, much like as in Zoom where spots will be offered at a premium, says Arora.

Also, do not expect the channels from the Bennett, Coleman stable to be free-to-air "� all of them will be "pay" channels. Though the company refuses to talk about the product and positioning strategy for the business channel, it has identified Partho Dasgupta from within the group to head the venture.

NDTV's Arnab Goswami has also been brought in to look after the business channel. Arora says that neither the name nor the language of the channel has been finalised "but we promise to create new space in business news."

The buzz is that Bennett, Coleman is talking to foreign news agency companies that have television networks like Reuters and Bloomberg for a joint venture for the business channel.

Arora prefers to put it the other way round: "We are being approached by many interested parties. But we've not made up our minds whether we need an equity partner in the business," he says.

Currently, Indian media policy allows only 26 per cent foreign equity in news channels. But Arora says roping in a minority partner has to be a well-considered decision.

"After all, we expect the TV business to be the size of Bennett, Coleman within 10 years. So we need to see if it makes sense to give out such high value business," he says.

That Bennett, Coleman means business is evident from the sprawling 90,000 square feet space it has bought in Mumbai. The TV business will clearly be headquartered in the city and preparations to build studios in the newly-acquired Kamla Mills space are on.

Yet even though Bennett, Coleman is pumping over Rs 300 crore into its TV business, the question being debated in media industry circles is whether the newspaper publisher's gamble will work.

The biggest issue, media experts point out, is the timing of the television foray. The broadcasting industry is already an overcrowded, Rs 5,000 crore (in terms of advertising) industry with well-entrenched players such as Star Plus, Sony and Zee in the entertainment segment. Isn't it too late in the day to get into TV?

Bennett, Coleman managing director Vineet Jain doesn't think so. Says he: "We have taken the TV initiative at the right time. Excellent content has been lined up and the team is first rate. Our ideas are clutter-breakers and I'm certain that we shall soon be in a leadership position. With Zoom and our other channels, BCCL is sure of success."

Arora echoes Jain's point: "We were consolidating our print business until we became the undisputed leaders in the category. Now, we have turned our attention to television," he says.

He also dismisses the point that Times TV did not do well as a software production house. "Frankly, we did not go the whole hog. Now we are ready to do so," he says.

However, it doesn't help Bennett, Coleman that its radio venture is also bleeding. Entertainment Network India Ltd's (the company that runs Bennett, Coleman's Radio Mirchi in seven cities) CEO AP Parigi had told Ice World earlier that the radio business had lost about Rs 92 crore (the media market estimate: closer to Rs 140 crore).

Big small screen plans

• Zoom, a fashion, music, events and lifestyle channel, will target the young ("metrosexuals") in the metros
  
  
• The spiritual channel, which may take off later this year, will be a "mind, body and soul kind of channel," unlike "discourses""� led channels such as "Aastha" and "Sanskaar"
  
  
• Neither the name nor language of the business channel, to be launched next year, has been finalised. Bennett, Coleman says that it has been approached by many interested parties for a joint venture for the channel

Some media experts also think that Bennett, Coleman needs to concentrate on and fortify its print media business in its core Mumbai market where it will soon face competition from "The Hindustan Times."

Little surprise, then, that a Star India source dismisses Times' television foray "as an act of desperation as it's been left out of the broadcasting boom."

However, management consultant Sanjeev Nayyar, who has some expertise in broadcasting, puts things in perspective when he says that "The Times of India" group realises television's future potential.

"Look at it this way. It took many more than 50 years for "The Times" group to rake in revenue of Rs 1,500 crore. Star took less than 10 years to generate Rs 1,300 crore (Star's current turnover is close to Rs 2,000 crore, says one source). The print medium will continue to be important for its political value but today's consumer wants entertainment, meaning TV," Nayyar says.

Rajesh Jain, head of media practice at KPMG, says that it is not surprising to see new TV wannabes enter the business "as the media and entertainment industry may grow faster than the projected 20 per cent."

He says growth in the TV industry will come from four areas: advertising, pay revenue (it already contributes Rs 6,000 crore to the industry, according to KPMG), revenue per subscriber and the correction in broadcasters' share of revenue from cable operators.

That may be true, but the "niche" genres that Bennett, Coleman is looking at are not quite exclusive ones. Says a Star source: "The company's lifestyle channel may not remain an exclusive niche for more than 100 days. At least five similar channels from big broadcasting companies are in the pipeline."

Other than Star One, a channel dedicated to telefilms, Star India is drawing up plans for a fashion, food, health and lifestyle channel.

A senior TV Today executive declined to comment on whether Aaj Tak's promoters are also considering a similar television product. But, he says, such a niche can be easily emulated.

"The problem in the niche business is that tomorrow someone learns from your mistakes and takes off, affecting your profitability instantly. Niches don't really have a first mover advantage," he adds.

Such criticism does not really affect Arora: "We will not be an also-ran. We will dominate whatever category we enter and packaging content is our strong point," says he.

Observes KPMG's Jain: "A channel with the ability to target specific niches with discerning programming will do well. However, they must understand the advertising segment, consumer mindset and take a long-term view of the business."

Zoom, experts say, may do well as there's room for an upmarket channel that will cater to south Mumbai and south Delhi audiences.

But the business channel category may get crowded by the time Bennett, Coleman launches its channel next year. Unconfirmed reports suggest that both NDTV and TV Today are considering launching their own business channels. Zee has already announced its business channel plans.

"Also, the sole existing company that has a business channel, CNBC, run by TV 18, enjoys a good brand equity and boasts of loyal viewers who might not switch to a new channel instantly," Nayyar points out.

But Bennett, Coleman can offer advertisers deals for both the print and TV media. Analysts who track the media industry think that in Bennett, Coleman's case, the former could subsidise the latter.

And if the television business is part of Bennett, Coleman, the initial losses from the TV business could be set off against profits from the print business.

The television business right now will be part of Bennett, Coleman but media marketing experts say that it is not possible to cross-sell the TV and print media. Even in television, the weakest product is often bundled with the stronger channels in the bouquet.

And once the product is offered on discount, advertisers never really agree to pay for it. "Bundling TV and print seems unlikely as both products need to stand on their own feet," says the TV Today executive.

Times TV could also face distribution challenges. The company has the option of either joining hands with one of the three big distribution groups "� Zee's Siti Cable, the Star-Hathway venture or Alliance One which pushes Sony, Discovery and NDTV "� or setting up its own distribution network.

But thanks to the conflict of interests, it may find it tough to convince the large networks to carry its signals. Besides, in an overcrowded channel environment where paying a carriage fee has become an industry norm, Times TV too may have to fork out big money for prime band space on the small screen.

Arun Arora, of course, foresees no distribution hassles. Advertising space on the channel has already been booked and cable operators' requests for its TV bouquet are pouring in, he claims.

Many others feel that though Bennett, Coleman may find it tough to crack the distribution problem, it will extensively use its print and radio network to promote its channels.

" 'The Times' group is quite capable of everyday, in-your-face promotions of its products in its newspapers and on Radio Mirchi. You cannot rule out the possibility of it being able to create consumer pull," says the TV Today executive.

Lastly, few newspaper managements have really put big sums of money in new media like television, the exception being the Hyderabad-based "Eenadu" group which was among the first newspaper groups to have entered TV.

But a Bennett, Coleman insider argues that most newspaper managements, unlike Bennett, Coleman, are conservative in their approach to business. "Besides, though they make money, few are as profitable as Bennett, Coleman," he notes.

Company officials say that there is no dearth of funds and the Rs 300 crore that will go into the TV project is equivalent to less than a year's profit of the group.

But the very fact that Star India's profit is now close to Rs 900 crore may be giving Jain sleepless nights and a reason to break into the TV business in double quick time.