AXN celebrates 15 years of broadcasting with 'Shocktober'

AXN, one of the leading English niche channels in India has successfully completed 15 years in the industry. Launched in 1997 in the Asia Pacific as a destination for action-adventure movies, dramas and reality shows, AXN celebrates its 15th anniversary with a strong presence across the globe. It has  undoubtedly been an amazing journey for the channel. They  have always endeavored to entertain audiences with thrillers and action shows. The content of AXN which has been rightly termed as ‘gripping’ has gained immense support from its viewers. Since 1998, AXN India has been the ratings leader and the public predominantly chose AXN as "the most viewed channel" in the English genre.

Adgully caught up with Sunil Punjabi, Business Head, AXN to know about the channel’s  completion of 15 years in India , their strategies, trends, thoughts and much more.

Speaking about AXN’s journey and sharing few milestones, he said, “The journey has enabled AXN to achieve the following milestones : Bring the best international thrill content to India, Dominate the English Entertainment market share consistently and Bring to India some of the most exciting thrilling shows like India’s Minute To Win It among others.”

AXN that kick-started its 15th Anniversary celebrations with the theme ‘Shocktober’ for all the thrill seekers who will receive a daily dose of shocks in terms of Season Premieres of AXN’s prime properties like ‘NCIS LA (season 3), Teen Wolf and Destination Truth  along with movies that promises to sweep the viewer off their feet. Some of the movies that will be featured during ‘Shocktober Movie Fest’ are The Ring, The Thirteenth Floor, Payback and Darkness Falls.

Speaking about the initiative, he said, “The 15th Anniversary celebrations started off with ‘Shocktober’ in October 2012 and will continue for the next 12 months with a new theme every month. For the month of November AXN planned a 15 day movie marathon from 1st November to 15th November  which showcased Transformers 1 & 2 during Diwali.”

He believes that ‘Thrill’ is what AXN is all about. Thrill is at the core of AXN’s DNA. AXN is looking at localization of the content in the coming year.

As far as growth, content and marketing strategies are concerned, Punjabi says, “We believe the Indian opportunity is big. India is one of the largest English speaking market, but English content consumption has not really taken off.”

There has been a steady growth in the size of viewership on various English content consumption platforms. Also, there are systemic changes with DAS. “Hence we are strongly looking at the regionalization strategy to offer AXN in local languages and also new channels to offer to the India market,” he adds.

In the cluttered space what would be AXN’s ‘line of attack’ be to stand out different? In this regard Punjabi said, “For AXN we have strong established drama series like Supernatural, NCIS and Damages among others. Among the reality series too, we have some of the best programs globally in Top Chef and The Voice. We would continue to strengthen the programs we bring to India.” | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal@adgully.com]  

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