Exclusive | NDTV's Rohit Jaiswal on the launch of two new Intl. channels

Digitisation is attracting foreign niche channels to launch in India and two such  international channels have recently entered the Indian market. The NDTV group which brings in these two channels has signed affiliated distribution deals to distribute ITV Granada, which is an English general entertainment channel (GEC) owned by a UK-based private production house and Trace Sports ,which will be the first in the sports lifestyle genre  launched by Trace a French company.

Trace Sports, the High Definition Lifestyle channel is dedicated to sports celebrities. has entered the India market. The programming strategy of the channel is to provide in-depth understanding of sports icons through features and real stories.

ITV Granada will compete with English GECs such as AXN, STAR World, Zee Cafe, Zee Trendz and Big CBS, among others. It will have all kinds of content including reality shows, fictions, soaps and talent hunt shows. ITV is a private production house and has a large variety of shows in its kitty.

Trace Sports will have content focusing on the lifestyle of sports celebrities, documentaries and interviews with the celebrities, and some sports reality shows. It will also have non-live events like adventure sports (rafting and trekking, among others) and action sports (such as mountain biking and ice skiing).

Trace Sports, which is a niche within niche genre and ITV being a private production house with a large variety of shows in its kitty, sampling of its content for both channels  was important and necessary to understand what works best in the country. Both the channels are encrypted and will be initially available for free for about six months.

Trace Sports has already been launched in Pune and some parts of Mumbai. The network plans to make the channel available pan-India within the next six months. The channel is available on Airtel digital TV, DEN, Hathway, Digicable and ICC Network.

Adgully spoke to Rohit Jaiswal, AVP, Affiliate Sales & Network Distribution, NDTV, regarding NDTV’s plans to launch the two new international channels , their content strategy , how they intend bringing more varied sports content to India, the TG they are targeting and much more.

The NDTV Group has signed affiliated distribution deals with two international broadcasters to distribute their channel in India. Sharing more about this latest development from NDTV Jaiswal said, “We are the exclusive distributor of Trace Sports and ITV Granada in India across all the platforms. The idea is the leverage the NDTV Brand to establish these players in this market, while also giving the viewers a diverse offering from the NDTV stable.”

The two new channels expected to hit our television screens soon are Trace Sports which  is a  sports lifestyle channel launched by Trace a French company . The other channel being ITV Granada, which is an English general entertainment channel (GEC) owned by a UK-based private production house. With regard to content when asked what audiences could expect from the respective channels i.e. Trace Sports and ITV Granada Jaiswal said, “Trace Sports is the Entertainment channel dedicated to sports celebrities. The format ranges includes interviews, infotainment, factual Entertainment and reality shows and its programs are from a diverse range of sports including Football, cycling, golf, ski, skate boarding and adventure sports. It has shows like Footballers’ Lives where the spotlight falls on the incredible career of football aces, Up Close which gives athletes an opportunity to open up to their fans and show us their lives outside sport, Freesports which focuses on Surf, Kite, snowboard, skiing – where one can discover the most incredible images with the best sportsmen of their category and Soccer Dreams, the first football reality show where aspirants win the ticket for the prestigious Everton Football Academy and become a professional among others .”  He also went on to elaborate about ITV Granada and what this channel has to offer.  “ITV Granada offers contemporary dramas, cool comedy, cutting edge reality and the best in talk and entertainment shows. It has comedy shows like the award-winning Cold Feet, investigative thriller like Eleventh Hour featuring Hollywood star Patrick Stewart, reality shows like I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here, The Jeremy Kyle Show UK’s one of the most loved, watched and controversial show, the fast-paced show car show Vroom Vroom, reality shows like Big Brother and the likes, ”  he said.

With the presence of several English GEC’s already existing on Indian television when asked if this has encouraged ITV to look for a long term investment in the country Jaiswal said, “The English GEC has for a long time only served in the urban market. The exposure of the language in the Tier 2 & 3 cities has seen a market develop in these tiers and digitalization in the rest of the markets will help widen the exposure. We believe ITV Granada, with its original programming, will create its appointment viewership which will happen over some time.”

Though cricket is an all time favourite with Indian viewers it has been observed that of late they are now  open to different kinds of sports other than cricket . Sharing his views as to how Trace Sports will cater to the new segment which is increasing steadily in the country, Jaiswal said , “ Trace Sports is unique from all the current offering. The programs have never been seen in India and it will provide the fans of sports other then Cricket to get to know more about the sports and their celebrities like never before on TV. For example, one can get to see the show ‘The Daily life of Djibril Cissé’ which is all about his car collection, the origins of his signature hairstyles, the exclusive parties where he performs as a DJ, not to mention the preparation for the launch of his very own clothing line, “Mr Lenoir”.”

With regard to  the TG that they are  targeting with the  introduction of  the two new channels he said that  Trace Sports TG  will be sport aficionados’ of age group 16-34 and ITV Granada targets the normal English GEC audience, which is C&S 25+, All India.

When asked to elaborate more about the content strategy, whether it would be all old imported content, new imported content, real time broadcast or some indigenous content as well Jaiswal went on to explain and said, “Backed by ITV Studios Global Entertainment Ltd, the international licensing arm of ITV, the UK’s most successful commercial broadcaster, ITV Granada will bring all their content with 80% of its programming as new/first run and 70% of its programming refreshed each year. It will be new content and not more than 2-3 months from its first airing in the UK. ” He also informed that Trace Sports would provide an entertaining, informative, funny and cheeky lifestyle of the sports Champions. These are original concepts and productions and would be simulcast across all the other countries that it is available in. 

Will the two new channels be actively competing with current bouquet of channels available in India specifically C&S? Jaiswal reasoned that, “Trace Sports is a unique channel with a new concept to the viewers here. It’s a channel which will rather complement, rather than compete with sports channels. ITV Granada will compete with the existing English GEC channels but we instead expect the channel to expand the market.”

In terms of the programming having a mix of fiction vs. reality he said that both the channels have about 20% from the reality shelf.
Where the eagerly awaited launch timings of the channels is concerned Jaiswal said that both  the channels are already available on Airtel DTH and certain digital head-ends in Hathway, Fastway, Digi cable, ICC and more can be expected in the coming months.

With Indian viewers open to newer kind of sports and also given the fact that there is a decent audience for many English GEC’s in the country there is no doubt that both the channels making their foray in the Indian market are sure to add to their already existing favourite channels.