UP will be a very key market for Sony in 2017: Ashish Golwalkar

Sony Entertainment Television has had a long innings in the Indian television, with the channel completing 21 years in November 2016. With this, Sony also unveiled its new brand identity and is in the process of introducing a refreshed content strategy to woo more viewers. 

Sony has introduced quite a few landmark shows in its 21-year existence; however, the channel’s performance in the ratings charts since 2015 has not been very encouraging with its shows not gaining enough traction with the viewers. 

A turnaround in the channel started with the launch of ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’. This was further fortified with the launch of shows like ‘Super Dancer’, ‘Mahabali Hanuman’, ‘Kuch Rang Pyar ke Aise Bhi’, etc. Today, Sony is placed in the third spot among Hindi GECs in BARC’s Urban ratings. 

Commenting on the channel’s performance, Danish Khan, EVP & Business Head, Sony Entertainment Television, said, “In the last seven months, we have strengthened our weekend strategy and have become #1 GEC in weekends. We have also refreshed our brand identity with a new vibrant logo and on-air packaging. Our next focus is on strengthening weekdays. The number of shows and variety will help us build habitual viewing and it will happen over the next six months. Changing people’s habits takes time. We are committed to making Sony the most loved entertainment channel in India.” 

In conversation with Adgully, Ashish Golwalkar, Senior Creative Director, Sony Entertainment Television, traces Sony’s growth in its 21 years, content strategy, growth plans for 2017 and beyond and more. Excerpts: 

How would you describe Sony Entertainment Television’s growth in its 21 years of existence?
Sony Pictures Networks started with one channel, that is, Sony Entertainment Television (SET). Today, it is one of leading media groups in the country. SET, the mother channel, has been a pioneer in many things – bringing big ticket events on television for the first time with the Lata Mangeshkar Live concert, and then other channels followed. SET was the first channel to first bring big ticket international formats on Indian television, such as ‘Indian Idol’, ‘Betty Laugh’ was adapted as ‘Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi’. Most of the international formats like ‘Dancing With The Stars’, ‘Bigg Boss’, ‘Fear Factor’ debuted on Sony and later on other channels picked them up. While Sony does not air the Indian Premier League matches, its sister channels SET Max and Sony Six have been airing the tournament.

Like other channels, in these 21 years we, too, have seen ups and downs, but have continued to entertain. So, our strategy is to be committed to entertain the viewers. And since its inception, the channel has always been slightly urban-influenced. Though it has been a roller coaster ride, we are very happy where we are today. 

What have been the key landmarks in Sony’s 21-year journey?
I would say big ticket film premieres started for the first time on Sony. The trend of international formats on Indian television was brought by Sony. In that respect, Sony Entertainment Television has been the trendsetter in both fiction and non-fiction. ‘CID’ is the longest running show on television, which still continues on the channel, then there is ‘Crime Patrol’. Earlier, the landmarks were shows like ‘Saas Bina Sasural’, ‘Bade Achche Lagte Hain’ – so, there have been pioneering records from the channel and we will continue to be the pioneers. 

What is the objective behind Sony’s latest brand revamp? What prompted this move?
Trends have changed, and with that it is important for the channel to be contemporary, to constantly bring in change, and the change is going to happen in a way the channel talks, which can happen only through the audio visual medium. If you look at the last 21 years, Sony hasn’t changed much compared to other channels like Zee TV and Star Plus, which have been changing their look and feel. Hence, we thought this was the best time to bring about a change in our programming strategy, and change the look and feel and along with the content of channel. 

How are you planning to ramp up Sony’s performance in 2017?
We are already No. 1 on weekends. We will continue to invest in our weekend strategy and will continue to be aggressive on weekends. We will continue with ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’, ‘CID’, ‘Crime Patrol’, along with two non-fiction shows on weekends in the coming year. We will continue to be aggressive on weekends. While our weekday shows have been lagging behind, ‘Beyhadh’ has been doing well. ‘Hanuman’ has been doing really well for us. In the coming three months, we will be launching three big shows – the latest season of ‘Indian Idol’, ‘Peshwa Bajirao’ and one more fiction show. Right now, we are ramping up our fiction arsenal. We are planning to expand in a significant way during the next financial year. 

What kind of a content refresh can we look forward to from Sony? Which genres are you focussing on more?
We are committed to our non-fiction genre, where families can sit and watch together. We will continue to invest in mythos and historical shows. In historical shows, we have a major show lined up in ‘Peshwa Bajirao’. In mythology shows, we currently have ‘Hanuman’, but we are planning to have some other shows as well to offer a better mix on the channel. There are other fictional offerings in the pipeline as well, which will reflect the brand philosophy of ‘Rishto Ki Saajhedari’. 

How much of a turnaround in Sony has ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’ contributed to? How are you strategising to maintain freshness in this comedy show?
Kapil Sharma is a brand; it’s the biggest name in television today. When he came to Sony, people were very sceptical as to whether the show will do well, because at that point of time Sony was not doing well. But with Sony’s all round effort in marketing, the aggressive promotion plan that we had for the show and of course, the great creative content that the Kapil team came out with – I think, all these worked together to deliver better content than the original version. It has been a good head starter and as I said, Kapil wants to be with us, and while that’s happening, we want to create a programming portfolio that helps us being consistent in entertaining. 

First we had ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’, and then we built other shows like ‘Super Dancer’ around it. Soon, we will have ‘Indian Idol’ and going forward, we will have other fiction shows as well. Thus, the going is good for us. 

What is Sony’s growth strategy for 2017? Which markets are you looking at to drive growth in the coming year?
We are doing quite well in the urban markets, however, our performance has been under par in the smaller markets. Markets like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Gujarat have been good for us. Now, we are looking to make further inroads into Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and other markets in East India, Bihar. UP will be a very key market for us in the coming year.