Life OK, Star India’s newest channel which went on air on Sunday, has lined up a slew of initiatives in its bid to grab at least a fifth of the eyeballs in the Hindi-speaking television viewing universe in India.
Conceived and developed to compete with market leader Star Plus, Life OK has been assigned a separate team by the holding company to vie for television ratings and consequently advertising revenues. Ajit Thakur, general manager, Life OK says, “Our biggest initiative is that we have got Madhuri Dixit on board as the Sutradhar (storyteller). ”
The actor says she will thread together the narratives and highlight the intent behind individual shows on Life OK. “Every show on the channel has a moral campus. I will come in to explain the philosophy behind the story and to maintain continuity in the narrative.”
Life OK lined up eight shows for launch as against the four to six shows competitors air on inauguration.
To engage audiences, the channel has three programmes an hour instead of the normal two - the episodes will cater to those who are looking for fast-paced programming. The channel has cut down drastically on inventory and will have only two minutes of advertising time every half an hour. This would, of course, mean lower initial ad revenues but Thakur hopes to make up for it by cashing in on expected higher ratings by charging a premium from those advertising on Life OK. Thirdly, the programming will be beamed seven days a week instead of just five days (which is the norm for most soaps)-based on feedback from viewers that they do not have good content to see on weekends.
Life OK is being launched in a disruptive three-day roadblock across Star India’s entire network, the biggest in Indian advertising history. The outdoor plan will reach 101 towns stretching out to places, Star claims, where no entertainment brand has reached before. To address the youth, brand will be launched through a week long digital engagement programme – this would include an eight hour-long Life OK Rockathon concert.
More From This Section
But would the focus on two Hindi GEC channels in a single viewership universe erode viewership and catalyse cannibalisation? Uday Shankar, Star Group CEO, explains, “While Star Plus has been doing well and has great viewership, increasingly we are coming across concepts which cannot be accommodated into a single channel. Life OK is for viewers who are anxious that in race for prosperity they would be left behind. We decided to address that niche while investing in this second brand.”
Star India is said to be investing close to Rs 700 crore in launching their newest prodigy. Whether the innovative formats and the detailing the content philosophy have undergone is ‘OKayed’ by viewers remains to be seen.