Exclusive | On a growth path: Star India's Rasika Tyagi!

FX and Fox Crime, India’s fastest growing channels in the English Entertainment space have shown phenomenal performance since the beginning of this year by surpassing competition and gaining leadership position for Star India in the English General Entertainment category.

The growth can be attributed to the fact that Star India has taken over the FX and Fox Crime operations and is now being run from India. The content has been filtered and streamlined to cater to Indian audiences. Some of the most watched shows on Fox Crime are CSI, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and Breaking In. The future line up also looks great with Burn Notice, CSI- New York, The Practice, Person of Interest and Unforgettable. Fox Crime specifically caters to the needs of the crime and investigation series enthusiasts. It is India’s only channel that offers thrilling dramas and investigative crime shows round the clock. FX too has a fantastic line up of shows like Californication, X files, Community, Prison Break and Archer.

We at Adgully caught up with Rasika Tyagi, Sr. VP English Channels, Star India in order  to understand the entire growth scenario and the strategies that led to this growth.

When asked to specify the three strategies that made the channel reach the position that it is at today, Tyagi said, “The move to get the operations of FX and Fox Crime in India has delivered in a big way. This allows us to filter content and show what the viewers in India like and want to see. FX stands for ‘The Edge of Entertainment’. It is bold, provocative and edgy in its content. Fox Crime on the other hand has the best of the crime shows around the world. The content line up distinguishes these two brands amongst competition. The shows chosen are long running shows  that help us build habit over time  . This clubbed with digitisation has led to a fantastic beginning in 2013 for FX and Fox Crime.”

When asked how the road seems ahead for the channels she said, “We see digitization as more of an opportunity to grow further in the category. With Star World as a distinct leader and with FX and Fox crime being the fastest growing, we are all set to establish Star India as a leading network for English entertainment in the category. This also gives us an opportunity to grow the category further as the growth coming from competition will be limited. With our current lineup of shows on FX and Fox crime we are confident to be able to pull this off.”

What would be the content strategy henceforth? Sharing more about this Tyagi explained that on a qualitative level an FX viewer is someone who likes an unrestricted, no holds-barred portrayal of life, someone who demands more than just fun entertainment, while a Fox Crime viewer is someone who is drawn to crime, investigation, mystery & suspense.  “The strategy would be staying true to the brands with FX where the content is edgy with shows like Archer, Californication, Community, Prison Break  while for Fox Crime  getting some of the best line up of Crime shows around the world  with shows like Burn Notice, The Practice, CSI- NY and CSI Miami,” she said.

Looking at the growth and current scenario it is quite fair to say that the Indian audience is quite ready in terms of accepting the above mentioned niche content. Expressing her views on the statement Tyagi said that English entertainment genre has managed to create multiple prime time slots where viewers tune in to their favorite sitcoms and drama shows. The consumption of these shows has gone up in the past few years especially with the youth. 

She is of the opinion that audiences today are more aware of the latest shows globally, and want to view it almost at a similar launch period here in India. The choice of English shows is no longer restricted to sit-coms but the preference also has shifted to reality shows, drama and crime shows. The audiences today are willing to experiment and try out different variety of content across our channels.

In terms of how such developments benefit the channel she opined, “Bringing operations to India gave us the choice to give the viewers of what they like, it’s great to see the growth numbers on FX and Fox Crime. The viewers have responded to our content line up on both channels.  This along with Digitisation brings us a great opportunity to grow even more as a channel and as a network.” 

FX stands for ‘The Edge of Entertainment’. It is bold, provocative and edgy in its content with a line-up of shows like Desperate Housewives, Harpers Island, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Call Me Fitz and Rescue Me. These five shows are a part of the top ten most watched shows within the English general entertainment universe. The channels stand tall and ahead of competition in the seven metros. 

Post digitization the English entertainment genre has shown growth in its channel share and reach, with a healthy contribution coming from FX and Fox Crime. They are India’s fastest growing channels in the English Entertainment space today. They have shown phenomenal performance since the beginning of this year by surpassing competition and gaining leadership position for Star India in the English General Entertainment category. |By Aanchal Kohli[aanchal(@)adgully.com]