Exclusive | Romedy Now scales up expectations as the new home for F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

Rachel Green, Monica Geller, Phoebe Buffay, Joey Tribbiani, Chandler Bing and Ross Geller…..Yes, you got it right! We are talking about the most favorite names/characters of 90’s kids…After 10 seasons of watching New York's favorite love, live and laughter series, F.R.I.E.N.D.S has surely carved a place in all our lives. Fall in love, split up, get hired, get fired, get stranded, farewell to Chandler, Joey, Ross, Rachel, Monica and Phoebe all that packed in one show. 

Now the show is back on Romedy NOW with all ten seasons, as the first episode went live on 9th June 2014, the channel is expecting a real high from the show. Every episode is a fun ride following the friends’ escapades in this entertaining show that promises every moment to be exciting. The show has undoubtedly garnered critical as well as commercial success sweeping away hordes of awards and a whopping 63 Primetime Emmy Awards nominations!

Nevertheless, Romedy NOW is leaving no stone unturned for the promotion of this iconic series. To know more on this, Adgully caught up with Shantanu Gangane, Marketing Head, English Entertainment Channels, and Mansi Shrivastav, Content Head, English Entertainment Channels.

Romedy NOW’s step to get F.R.I.E.N.D.S can be easily understood as a trump card the channel would currently have. Speaking about how and what went in taking this decision, Shrivastav said, “In terms of selecting shows and getting them on the channel we have always struck to our philosophy of ‘Love, Laugh and Live’. Having said that, this show is just a perfect fit, no second thought! Also what viewers would like the most is the fact that all the ten seasons would be aired on one channel”. Adding his thoughts, Gangane said, “More than why F.R.I.E.N.D.S the question should be why Romedy NOW! The channel with its philosophy stands as a platform for a show like this. In terms of content we are always format-agnostic and the show is so intrinsic to what the channel stands for.”

Interestingly, before taking the decision of getting F.R.I.E.N.D.S back on the channel, the team went into the research of pursuing F.R.I.E.N.D.S’ Facebook page which had about 2 crore fans and which indeed made the team all the more sure to get this property on the channel. One of the most talked about shows, F.R.I.E.N.D.S is played in 100 countries and in 50 languages. Gangane said, “What made us all-the-more strong towards our thought was the Facebook page tag line of the show - Loving, laughing and living of these six friends which is exactly the tag line of the channel. And I think F.R.I.E.N.D.S should have resided on Romedy NOW forever.”

Understandably, there can be no qualms in predicting what the show can do for the channel in terms of viewership; but the marketing and promotion done by the channel is also quite appealing. He says, “Since the show has been aired in so many languages and countries we had to do something that could make the show come in light and grab more and more attention. To add few layers we have done something as a lingo for the urban youth that is TGIF, which for us means ThankGodItsFriends and not ThankGodItsFriday or may it, be #Toughestfriends quiz, which has been trending from quite some time now. We have tried to do all things that were never done before around F.R.I.E.N.D.S. - like giving out official merchandise (like mugs, T-shirts and much more) that has caught a lot of attention. The contemporary way of marketing is what is showing early signs of getting up and close with F.R.I.E.N.D.S.!” 

The channel has a lot more excitement in store for its viewers with a unique contest that will give a chance to the biggest fans of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. to go to LA and have coffee at the real ‘Central Perk’. In this, the fans have to vote for their favorite F.R.I.E.N.D.S. character to win this once in a lifetime opportunity. More the votes, more the chances of winning! To have coffee at Central Perk in USA, fans can give a missed call on 08067006611 and vote for their favorite FRIEND #ThankGodItsFriends. The campaign is heavily promoted on the Times Television Network with promos running extensively across the network channels and extensive presence across the Times of India publication, nationally.

Apart from the digital buzz, the channel is reaching to its audience through various other platforms like TV and Print too. The entire Times Network is playing the promos of the show and to add-up more ET Now and Times NOW have done a feature revolving around the show wherein the celebrities have talked about their favorite F.R.I.E.N.D.S. character. A lot of print publications from their bouquet have also supported them and also they have tapped the trade publications for doing some really special activities. He said, “Yes we have also re-created the famous F.R.I.E.N.D.S couch in a Romedy way wherein we have gone to many agencies in Delhi and Mumbai and created the famous picture of original six characters on the couch with their six friends.”

Why not weekends? Replying to this Shrivastav said, “We have quite a few new shows launching over weekends and Saturday - Sunday have their own content lined up like new movies, series etc but again on Saturday afternoon we are airing all the episodes (from Monday to Thursday) in one go.”

Though a question posed before time, when about the expectations from the show, Shrivastav said, “Though we have already got a hang of it from the response on digital but still the expectations are really high in terms of ratings too that will be on our table soon. And the show itself is a success every where it has been aired but particularly in India this will be the first time that all the seasons are being aired on one channel. And it is quite difficult to say what the ratings will say but F.R.I.E.N.D.S. as a show comes with a benefit that it has always performed well no matter what platform.”

Adding further Gangane said, “Yes it is quite early to talk about ratings as the show went live just last Monday but as far as channel share is concerned, on a 13 week average, we are number 1 with 27% market share hence the show being a perfect fit on a perfect platform the expectations internally are very high for it to perform well for the channel. We want to grow high from 27 percent.”

Not only the viewers but the marketers and the advertisers have also given an encouraging response to the channel. Gangane mentioned that they have managed to get all the sponsors that Movies NOW would have got in its first 8 months of launch like Gionee (Powered By sponsor for F.R.I.E.N.D.S.), Nokia, Coke, P&G, Unilever, Mahindra, in talks to close the Presenting Sponsor title very soon and much more.

Always in top 10 in primetime ratings, F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is sure to give you tons of love and laughter!