AXN HD, Home to the most iconic shows

English Entertainment has come a long way in the country. Not only in terms of content but also in terms of audience preferences. The genre is trying to cater to the changing needs of the audiences by offering them fresh content from Hollywood.

The rise in demand for Hollywood content and changing consumption patterns has divided the viewers in two clusters, one being the Opinion Leaders and the other being the Adopters. While Opinion Leaders were always on the higher awareness side, Adopters were on the lower awareness side.

Post digitization, core TG is spending more time on special interest channels. Today audiences know what kind of content they like as a result there is appointment viewing. Audiences are aware of show details and timing hence they can tune in accordingly.

After making its mark as the highest watched English Entertainment Channel in 2014 (with about 28 million viewers), AXN makes an impactful push entry in their content and programming strategy in 2015. One gets an eclectic mix of content from the best international production houses.

In a media interaction with Saurabh Yagnik, Executive Vice-President and Business Head, Sony PIX and AXN,   Amogh Dusad, Vice President  & Head - Programming & Acquisitions, PIX & AXN and  Neville Bastawalla, Vice President and Head Marketing - Sony Pix & AXN India They shared insights on launching  HD channel, content and programming strategy and plans for the year ahead.

Content Strategy

Speaking about the content strategy, Yagnik said, “We always look at investing in the best Hollywood content, and we will continue to look at new associations, be it with newer studios or any other partnership .”

He also went on to add that, “AXN has about 20 global content suppliers, about 2000+ hour of content every year and we are always looking at increasing our library.” The content strategy remains same for both the channels as of now. It is only in the near future that the team  will work on differentiating  both the channels content strategy. Yagnik also stressed on the fact that they are looking at investing more in Hollywood content.

AXN Focus

The focus of the channel is very clear for the year 2015-16. The channel wants to increase their share by building appointment viewing. Not only that they also want to enhance perception as a destination for Best Hollywood Content.

Apart from that, the channel is looking at bringing in “Fresh from the US”, a concept which aims to bring in the latest content from the US for the Indian audiences. Yagnik adds, “We want to build characters and show associations this year and we want a higher recall from the audiences based on the characters we show.”

AXN HD, the strategy going forward

Come 6th April, 2015, thrill will have a new destination. AXN goes HD and redefines English Entertainment. Buzz has already been created on the network channels and the media house intends to work on a aggressive Television plan, backed up by Print and heavy promotions on Social Media. Bastawalla adds, “About one third of the marketing spends go on social media. We work with Tonic Media our social media agency to engage with our 2 million Facebook fan followers. We also come up with creative ideas for social media engagements and for AXN HD also we will be doing something or the other.”

Sharing insights on the target audience, Yagnik said, “We are typically looking at an audience from 15 to 34 years. Of course that does not restrict others to watch our content. We would always be happy to get more eyeballs.”

While the channel earlier had weekdays from Monday to Thursday and Friday and Saturdays as Not so Ordinary Weekends, and Sundays they used to showcase movies; the channel has a different strategy going forward.

Based on research that the channel constantly does, AXN and AXN HD will now have Weekdays @8, 9, 10 and 11 from Monday to Friday and the Not so Ordinary Weekends on Saturday and Sunday.  The channel has decided to do away with movies as it does not fit their core proposition.

Priced at a marginal cost of Rs. 30 the channel has an interesting show line up for weekdays and weekends. Weekdays @ 8 will have signature shows like American Ninja Warrior; Ripley’s Believe it or not, WipeOut and Gunniess.  Weekdays @ 9 will have reality shows like So you think you can Dance, Top Chef, Fear Factor, America’s Next Top Model, Survivor and The Amazing Race. Weekdays @ 10 will have crime shows like NCIS, 24, Elementary, CSI and many more. And lastly, Weekdays @ 11 will have edgy shows like Dexter, Californication, Ray Donovan, Sex and the City, etc.

Adding to the kitty of enthralling entertainment, the Not so Ordinary Weekends will witness the latest seasons of shows with fresh content airing closer to US Dates. Sherlock S4, Supernatural S11, Hannibal S3, Elementary S4, Madam Secretary S2 being some of the best international TV series to watch out for.

AXN HD will have 1080i HD picture clarity and a 5.1 sharp surround sound.

Challenges

When there is substantial content available, there are always challenges be it in India or globally. Yagnik throws light on the fact that there is  piracy issue  in the country and they try to do policing with our internal sources and agencies to track them. He adds, “There is a lot of cost that goes in production and when someone makes that content available for free on the internet via torrents it becomes a huge threat for us because we lose out on revenue.  Piracy is something that needs to be addressed not only in India but also globally. Also, in time to come when piracy is controlled, we might not be able to get content for free online as well and that time will come soon.”

Another challenge that a broadcaster faces in of wastage of content. Dusad elaborates, “It’s not that all content that we have acquired is wasted. Yes, there is wastage but its minimum, say less than 10%. It all depends on what kind of content you have in your library, how fresh it is and how relevant it is to your audiences.”

Key Markets

Sharing insights on key markets for the channel, Yagnik said, “The key markets for us as an English Entertainment GEC will always be the metros or markets with a population of more than a million. So that way we have a very limited market.”

Adding to which he said, “For both our channels AXN and AXN HD, we plan to go pan India. We are slowly working on distribution and soon will be available on all platforms.”

Indeed this new addition to the English Entertainment GECs is going to see power packed action, and lot more Hollywood content in time to come. By Archit Ambekar | Twitter: @aambarchit

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