Free4U, says new channel boss

Sales of film music have been plummeting for some time. So much so that B4U's newly appointed COO B L Gautam realises that it's not right to charge film producers for showcasing their films.

So he has decided to air special two-and-a-half minute long theatrical trailers free on his channel.

"Usually, each promo is paid for by film producers (priced in the range of Rs 150-1,500 per slot of 30 seconds)," says Gautam, who was earlier a director at Zee.

Instead, B4U Movies has decided to club together the free theatrical trailers as a software and air it between the screening of feature films.

Gautam feels that since these exclusive trailers will be different from the run-of-the-mill promos that air on other television channels, he will be able to sell commercial time for a one-hour slot titled "Preview Theatre".

Adding to this perk for producers will be another boost "" a post-release slot of seven-10 minutes for the promotion of the film with packaging created by the producer. This will give the producer the opportunity to communicate a different message of the film.

"There is tremendous curiosity about forthcoming films, which we hope to address with the slot," he says, "and probably introduce a new kind of countdown show on Indian television "" the film trailer countdown." Of the channel's bouquet of six daily films, Gautam plans to show one every day with one commercial break.

To lift the company's sagging bottomline, Gautam plans to introduce innovative programmes. For one, he intends to create original content by contracting artists like Ghulam Ali, Pankaj Udhas, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ahmed and Mohammed Hussain.

"We will conduct live events in every TRP city (metros and mini-metros, where television ratings are measured). The artists will also perform in Dubai and London from April this year," he says.

While music companies would be asked to acquire rights of the individual artists, the live events will be B4U Music's property.

"Overexposure has resulted in people not bothering to buy music. We wish to change that. There will be no music videos; instead, we intend to use print publicity to create awareness," he says.

Around 12 artistes will be selected to be part of the B4U bandwagon.

Understanding that it's trailing behind competition, B4U hopes that its exclusive theatrical trailers will provide the big push for it to make a big splash in the world of television.