Competition is hotting up in the ‘infotainment’ genre on television. HISTORY, the first channel by the joint venture between A+E Networks (A+E) and TV 18, has got off to a high-profile launch. The channel will reach 50 million households across digital, analogue and DTH (Tata Sky and DISH) networks. The channel will focus on action and adventure. “For us history is made every day and we want to harp on the entertainment quotient with history as an underlying theme,” says Ajay Chacko, president, A+E Networks and TV 18.
In its earlier avatar the channel was known as The History Channel. It was available in South Asia under a deal between STAR TV and AETN International until November 21, 2008.
Surely, its earlier experience would have shown that securing foothold in a country where general entertainment channels (GEC) constitute 60 per cent of viewership, followed by news, sports and movies, is not really a cakewalk. The ‘infotainment’ space where HISTORY intends to compete is niche and occupied only 1.2 per cent of the total viewership in 2010 (according to data from TAM Media Research). Within this small market, there are a host of channels fighting for eyeballs. There is Discovery channel, which has a 54.7 per cent share, while National Geographic holds 22.8 per cent share. Fox History and Traveller, Discover Turbo, Discovery Science and Animal Planet complete the line-up.
Chacko says the objective is not to fight for shares, but make the genre more mainstream. “Research indicates that the younger generation is getting saturated with fiction-based content like soaps and sitcoms, and is looking for alternative formats,” he says.
The channel has roped in actor Salman Khan to promote its core message “kuch naya dekho, history bante dekho’ (watch something new, see history in the making). The channel will be available in six languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and Marathi. Most other channels in the same genre introduced local languages at a later stage.
The channel will not make special shows for the Indian audience. “Instead we will choose global shows that have an India connect. For example, for our show Ice Road Truckers, the Himalayan roads in India was one of the locations,” says Chacko. But the channel is working to produce local shows that can play across the globe. One of these is titled Greatest Indian, on the lines of Greatest Britons, which is being produced in partnership with BBC. Another show, Culture Shock (drama surrounding fourth generation non-resident Indian children), is a co-production with Endemol.
Media analysts say advertising revenues will be important for the channel to survive. Chacko claims many advertisers in the FMCG and consumer durables space are looking for channels that are more targeted. “Our desire is to look beyond the current Rs 250-crore advertising spend and grow the pie,” he says.