INX plans Rs 70 cr advt blitz

Armed with a marketing budget of Rs 70 crore, ex-Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea's INX Media is aiming to achieve a cable and satellite (C&S) household penetration of 30 million (about 42 per cent C&S homes) in the first 90 days of the launch of its two channels, 9X (Hindi general entertainment) and 9XM (music).

This is significant because none of the recent new channel launches managed to penetrate more than six-eight million C&S homes during the first couple of months. There are about 70 million C&S homes in the country.

Some of the recent launches include NDTV Goodtimes and NDTV MetroNation from the NDTV group, the two Bindass channels from UTV's V&S Broadcasting and even the two cricket channels from Neo Sports (when Star India was distributing it).

In order to ensure an initial 42 per cent C&S penetration, the INX Media has entered into channel distribution arrangements with all major multi- system operators in top 20 cities and also distribution arrangement with direct-to-home operators Tata Sky and Dish TV, industry sources said.

This would also help INX media command advertising spot rates of Rs 150,000-175,000 per 10 seconds, industry sources said.

The Hindi general entertainment channel genre generates an annual advertising revenue of over Rs 2,000 crore, a bulk of which is divided between Star India, Zee TV and Sony TV.

However, under Mukerjea's leadership, Star India took almost five years to reach over 30 million C&S households. Mukerjea was the chief executive of Star India under whom Rupert Murdoch's Star TV entered India and currently offers 14 channels in two bouquets.

Now, INX Media under Peter Mukerjea (chief strategy officer) and his wife Indrani Mukerjea (promoter & group executive director) plans to launch 12 channels within next 12 months.

According to top INX executives, the two channels will have a simultaneous launch, most likely on November 15 and a bulk of the Rs 70 crore budget will be spent on outdoor campaigns along with small bursts on television, print and the Internet in a three-month period.

The teaser television campaigns have already been airing on news channels since October 20.

"We have ensured that the channel is seen across the country. Once the viewers sample it, they will themselves demand it, thereby ensuring a growing penetration of the two channels. The news channel should be launched during the first three months of the next year," a top INX executive told Business Standard.

According to a cable industry source, INX distribution team has made 'lucrative' financial offers to leading cable operators for carrying the two channels in the prime band.

"Carriage fees for pushing new channels on prominent cable bands are a common occurence. 9X and 9XM should be visible in most of the cable homes across metros and big cities once launched," an independent cable operator of Delhi said.