Between tradition & tech: Pitaara TV’s Ajayvir Singh deconstructs Punjabi content market

In this interview with Adgully, Ajayvir Singh, Programming Head, Pitaara TV and Content Head, Chaupal OTT, provides insights into the current state of the Punjabi film industry and its marketing strategies. He clarifies that the drop in satellite acquisition rates post-COVID has been minor and temporary. The industry still places high importance on star cast, but content is equally crucial. Despite content being available on multiple platforms, TV viewership in the rural Punjabi community remains stable. To cater to an audience with multiple options, the Punjabi film industry must focus on providing quality content while managing costs effectively.

The marketing strategy for the Chaupal OTT platform follows a 360-degree approach, leveraging traditional and digital methods, and creating an emotional connection with the audience. The Punjabi entertainment industry prefers to work with singers as a marketing medium, owing to their massive popularity. Excerpts from the interview:

There has been a drastic drop in satellite acquisition rates when compared to pre-COVID times. How will this change in trend affect the industry dynamics? Are satellite rights losing their appeal?

No, there hasn’t been a drastic drop, but a minor change in the satellite acquisition rates in the post-Covid times. And this slight drop was witnessed because a lot of films were dropped owing to the shutting down of theatres due to the pandemic. There was overall cost-cutting in the industry at that time. However, in the current scenario, things have improved again. We are buying digital and satellite rights in the same capacity as we did before the pandemic hit the world. Even though in the digital market, there is a provision for revenue sharing, which might at times slow down the process of acquisition. But, in the satellite market, the pace is the same as it was in the pre-Covid times.

Leading streaming services and TV channels go for films with stellar star cast, leaving non-star films in the lurch without any takers. How can such films find an audience?

Yes, we go for a stellar star cast because it helps us boost ratings and gain traction owing to the artist’s own audience based on his popularity as a brand. Having said this, it does not imply that we ignore films or content pieces which have no star cast, because we believe that content is the king. So, if the content is strong and the actors have done a good job, we choose the film despite it not having any stars so to say. Even with the emergence of OTTs, the trend has changed now. So, somewhere, both the approaches are being used while acquiring content even if the ratio is different. 

The decline in TV viewership for movie channels is attributed to the fact that the same content is available on multiple platforms. How will this affect TV viewership?

As said before, the drop in TV viewership is only minor and that too in urban communities. The rural community has held fast to television viewing in all the phases, be it pre-Covid or post-Covid. Regarding content, we agree that our movie content is published both on OTT (Chaupal) and TV Channel (Pitaara). In fact, we first publish it on Chaupal and then buy satellite rights for Pitaara. But, again, since the rural audience is connected through television and people are watching the movies, there is no significant change in our ratings.

If we talk about general entertainment channels, they too are producing Punjabi shows. Even the national channels are attracted towards Punjabi culture and community as their shows incorporate Punjab and its stories in their exclusive content. It’s happening because these shows are working well, and the channels are getting good ratings. We are also working on these lines and producing exclusive content such as short films or shows for Pitaara. We are focused on making strong content for our TV viewers to stay connected with us throughout.

Audiences today have the option of watching the same content on multiple platforms. What is the best way forward for producers? What are the other challenges?

The Punjabi audience has become extremely choosy when it comes to entertainment. So, the biggest challenge for the Punjabi film industry is to provide the viewers with good content which can stand strong in the ocean of content from the South industry, Bollywood or even Hollywood for that matter. As a solution to this, we can follow a few things. First, we should not produce films with non-actors. Even if it’s a cameo or a full-fledged role, an actor/ theatre artist must be signed as it makes the content strong.

Second, we should manage the costs smartly, and make budget-friendly films while anticipating future gains. Third, we should work on different ideas than just focusing on delivering comedies. Punjab is full of stories, especially those based on real events. So, just like the South industry, Punjabi producers should showcase the magic of their roots and deliver the unexplored content.

What marketing themes do you follow to connect with your TG? What are the brand’s marketing objectives?

We follow a 360-degree marketing strategy for Chaupal. Our target audience can be broadly categorised into rural Punjabi population, urban Punjabi population and Punjabi diaspora residing in different countries across the globe. Of these, non-resident Indians are the major consumers of local content on Chaupal. For marketing, we employ both traditional and digital marketing approaches to reach out to the TGs. From using live concerts as a platform to market our products/ content to engaging audiences through mall activation to organising press conferences and to leveraging online presence of artists to digitally promote Chaupal, we do it all. Talking about marketing themes, our prime focus is to create an emotional connection with the audience, and we strategise our campaigns accordingly. To create a sense of belongingness among the TGs, we have successfully familiarised Punjabis using threads such as ‘Apni Boli Vich Apna Entertainment’ and ‘Chaupal Punjabia Da Apna OTT Platform’.

Our primary marketing objective is to build stronger relationships with our TGs and boost brand awareness, which will further help us increase subscriber base and expand the business.

Each state has its own marketing medium that works the best, what works for you?

Yes, that’s right. In the Punjabi entertainment industry, singers have a big brand value owing to the popularity of Punjabi music all over the world. Therefore, singers work as the best marketing medium here. Producers prefer singers to work in their films so that they can directly influence the huge fan base of the artist. Besides, live concerts, promotional tours, and digital engagement of followers by singers help in effective promotion of product(s) among the TGs.

There is another feature peculiar to Punjab which forms a part of traditional marketing. Being an agrarian state, Punjab is covered with fields. These fields have tube-well rooms, which enable brand advertisement and gain attention of the rural audience specifically. In addition to this, highway hoardings or market hoardings are often incorporated for Chaupal’s outdoor marketing campaigns.

What is your MAU? How much has it grown over the years?

Chaupal is only one-and-a half years old; it is in its growing phase. Despite being a young player in the market, its user engagement is quite promising. And we are very hopeful that it will grow substantially in the coming years as we focus on strengthening the catalogue. At present, Chaupal has a plethora of films and web series in original, exclusive, and non-exclusive categories. In fact, it has the biggest catalogue of Punjabi entertainment. The OTT platform is associated with all the production houses and actively works on the content acquisition strategy to expand and bring the best to the regional audience. Chaupal has delivered the content pieces of most of the top artists, including Diljit Dosanjh, Gippy Grewal and Amy Virk, to name a few. Starting with Gippy Grewal’s Chaupal Original web series ‘Outlaw’, the platform will present these celebrated artists in the original category in the future.

What does your content pipeline look like right now and how are you planning on expanding it? 

We believe that content is the king, which is why we focus on delivering diverse and quality content on Chaupal. Its content pipeline, comprising films and web series, is divided into three categories, including ‘Chaupal Originals’, ‘Exclusives’ and ‘Non-exclusives’. With a strong content acquisition strategy, Chaupal brings the biggest theatrical releases on the platform. Big projects like Neeru Bajwa and Satinder Sartaj’s ‘Kali Jotta’, ‘Es Jahano Door Kitte Chal Jindiye’ and upcoming ‘Carry On Jatta 3’ featuring Gippy Grewal and Sonam Bajwa are a part of the Chaupal library.

Till now, Chaupal has successfully delivered content across genres (women centric, suspense, thriller, romance, situational comedy, social issues, or breaking stereotypes). In the coming times, the focus remains on presenting the A-listers on the platform and expanding the boundaries of entertainment further.

What are some challenges that you face when marketing to a regional audience?

The first challenge any streaming platform would state is that of piracy. It hits the entertainment industry big time. In the regional space, the audience is limited as the scope is not as wide as it is in the case of national streaming platforms. Piracy in the regional entertainment industry jeopardizes the creative economy. People need to understand how this illegal act can disrupt the lives and livelihood of people in the industry.

Another challenge is to attune the users with technology. Even though people are keeping up with modern technology and they have the latest devices, they still take considerable time to adopt a new model. After Chaupal’s launch, despite its easy-to-use technology, the fundamental challenge was to monitor customers through the application. They had to be guided through the payment gateway and at every step till they got used to the working of the app.

Compared to mainstream OTT platforms, Chaupal has a much lower price strategy. What was your thought on this?

As compared to mainstream OTT platforms, Chaupal focusses on a narrow customer segment. The cost-positioning is done after evaluating buyers in the TGs. In regional space, people have limited earnings and low purchase power. To make entertainment affordable for all the TGs, Chaupal strategises its subscription price plans into monthly and yearly categories.

What are some changing consumer trends that you have seen of late?

Of late, especially in the post-pandemic scenario, there has been a considerable shift in consumer behaviour and their watching pattern. In regional space, TV has always been a dominant force, however, lately the regional audience has started migrating to OTT services. They have started accepting and adapting to streaming services. Chaupal’s launch was received as a boon by the local viewers who got their own platform to fulfil regional entertainment needs. The diverse array of content available on Chaupal (which is not available in theatres) attracted them to the platform and made them stay here. Now, the viewers are more open to watching varied and unique content on Chaupal as compared to previous times, when theatre-going was what they looked forward to.