Exclusive | Content is the game changer: Viacom18's Ravish Kumar

Gone are the days when television was ruled by the Hindi content and Hindi speaking markets. The regional television space has been giving tough fight to Hindi GEC’s in individual states, right from content to packaging to production value and scale. Staying true to these lines is ETV Kannada and ETV Bangla. In months of falling under the Network18 umbrella brand, these ‘regional’ channels have upped their games to beat the growing competition.

Latest numbers suggest that ETV Kannada has emerged as a strong no.2 in the Kannada market from a consistent no.5. Also, ETV Bangla is seen expanding and strengthening its afternoon band, which is between 1pm to 4pm, with new shows that will air from Monday to Saturday. To leverage its programming, ETV Bangla has come up with a dedicated afternoon time band called ‘Duronto Dupur’ which goes on air from 15 April 2014.

Adgully caught up with Ravish Kumar, EVP, Viacom18 & Business Head – Regional Channels, ETV Kannada/ ETV Bangla and ETV Odiya to know more about his journey and strategies that made these channels reach the position that they are in.

Explaining some strategies that helped the channel climb up to the no. 2 spot, Kumar said, “Well, the entire journey from being at No. 5 to now being at No.2 has been totally driven by the kind of content we produce and showcase on our channel.  It’s been a while that we have focused towards movie showcases as our entire focus has been on shows with good content. ‘Bigg Boss’ was a big game changer for us and then working on strength to strength we followed up by a show called ‘Indian’ and right now we are doing ‘The Dancing Star’ wherein we have licensed the content from BBC and we are producing it”.

Sharing his views on whether shows that have worked well in the Hindi/English market would work well in the regional space, he said, “Well, it depends upon how to make it and how would you expand the content. I personally believe in analyzing not only the market but also the need and demand of people in terms of adaptability of content. We have experimented with both - fiction and non-fiction programs. So while in non-fiction line-up we re-make ‘Bigg Boss’ but at the same time we build our own IPR with ‘Indian’. Also, we are now playing hybrid wherein we are paying BBC royalty for using ‘Dancing Stars’ content which is called ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’ in Hindi format but we are producing it ourselves. So we have all the three models taking the channel ahead”.

A considered norm in the television space is that along with good original content, a GEC also needs to have a substantially good film library to make its space in the viewers mind. However, Kumar refutes and states that it's not the case with ETV Kannada! “When we started with ETV Kannada our aim and belief was to play on pure-content philosophy. We do not rely on movies for gaining viewership. I personally believe that movies are like steroids as it does great things for the channel but one should never get used to it. Also in the coming future, the strategy/thought will probably not really change”, he explained. ETV Kannada asserts to be probably the only GEC in India which has broken the myth of a strong movie library being a necessity for the channel to grow stupendously and disrupt the market. 95% of ETV Kannada’s total viewership is contributed by pure programming content.

The channel has been seeing driving synergies from the umbrella brand of Viacom18 and its extensive fiction content bouquet by making Kannada versions of 'hit' shows like Balika Vadhu and Madhubala (Madhubala - Ashvini Nakshatra and Balika Vadhu Puttagowri Madhuve). Sharing his views on whether the audiences have willingly accepted this idea, Kumar said, “Yes, as we have done a lot of adaptations in ETV Kannada but for us both original and re-make content has worked brilliantly well. Also having said that unlike other channels, wherein they copy the shows episode by episode, our shows are adapted or inspired the already running show on our Hindi GEC. The ratio of original and adapted shows is somewhat like 3:2 wherein out of our 5 top shows 3 are original and 2 are adapted. Also the ratings have proved the fact our original shows have better ratings than the adapted ones”!

Bringing international formats to regional audiences is considered as a risk by most of the players in the domain. Kumar also signs the same tune but states that his team’s vision to work on such shows is what inspired him to take the leap! ETV Kannada introduced Bigg Boss with Southern Superstar Sudeep as the host that also crossed the 1000 TVT mark. Bigg Boss in fact, propelled ETV Kannada to become the No 1 GEC for two weeks in April 2013 – a turnabout from No.5 to the top in under a year and a half. Sustaining its position at No. 2, ETV Kannada has introduced home grown non-fiction format like Indian and Takadhimata - Dancing Star which is also the top show for the channel now.

Staying true to its vision of mirroring the rich heritage and culture of Karnataka, Kumar mentioned that ETV Kannada’s next shows will introduce the viewers to mythology as a genre with the launch of Shrinivasa Kalyana (The depiction of the saga of Lord Venkateshwara’s life – Tirupati). The channel has events like Annubandhan Awards (Golden Petal Awards) and Sangeet Samman in the pipeline for the next quarter.

Going the ‘Bong’ way, Kumar mentions that ETV Bangla’s new activity ‘Duronto Dupur’ is been marketed and promoted without leaving any stone un-turned. The campaign for the new shows will be 3 pronged: 1stPhase –Afternoon Slot Teaser Campaign; 2ndPhase –Afternoon Slot Revealer Campaign; 3rd Phase –Show specific Launch Campaign. On the OOH platform, there will be clear focus on consumer centric areas from- markets areas, shopping hubs to railway stations, bus queue shelters, bus back panels, rickshaw back panels to ferry branding and large format sites in key arterial zones to create trade impact with more than 300+ sites across tactical & impact mediums across Kolkata. There will be a 15 days campaign with the top 4 stations in West Bengal & Kolkata to create awareness and buzz for the launch; partnerships to drive consumer engagement through call-in contests and 1000+ spots during the campaign period with an average of 72 spots per day. Apart from all this; two weeks prior to the launch, the channel will run promos and slides across single screens & multiplexes across Kolkata and three days before the launch they will stage the Duronto Dupur processions across key consumer pockets in Kolkata to create buzz about the launches. Summing up the network’s marketing strategy Kumar stated, “We market and promote our shows depending upon the need and demand of the show”.

Television is not an easy business; from concept creation to execution to distribution, there are challenges at every step. In such case, having an umbrella brand like Viacom18 may come as a boon or a bane. Speaking on the same Kumar opined that the distribution of all the channels from the brand’s kitty in the regional market have been quite well. “Even before Viacom took the rights of these channels, the channels were very rightly placed and in the right direction. So in terms of building the reach it has been quite easy as the channels had a good amount of reach since its inception”, he said.

Lastly, speaking about his personal growth and journey in the regional entertainment channel space, Kumar quirked, “Well, I have switched channels the way a normal viewer changes channels on TV! Having said that, it’s been a great journey till date! I have never been a media person as I have spent my entire life with FMCG brands but when I came to India, I thought of changing the fields and hence landed up with Star TV and working in the regional space. Looking and accelerating the regional channel’s growth has been a great learning and experience”.
 

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