Exclusive | We will let our projects to speak for us: Bulldog's Akash Sharma

With a stronghold in content development in the Indian television spectrum from a global standpoint, Bulldog Media & Entertainment (Bulldog) launched in June 2007, offers world-class creative, development & production solutions, and is a one-stop destination for high-quality interactive & entertaining shows for TV, mobile, and the internet.

It has a proven record of choosing international entertainment formats, customizing it for the Indian environment, Bulldog’s core focus is developing and launching Indian television franchises, the latest being the internationally acclaimed People’s Choice Awards.  For the first time outside America in its 39 year history, Bulldog has brought the People’s Choice Awards to India in association with exclusive broadcaster Colors and presenting sponsor Pantene.

The Indian format will follow its international version with potential nominees being determined via national ratings averages, box-office grosses, music sales, then vetted through by a reputed agency Ormax Market Research. In the past, the company has acquired and adapted the hit show “Are You Smarter Than 5th Grader?” to suit Indian TV audiences and the local version was broadcast all over the world. Other popular formats and projects include -  Kya Aap Paanchvi Paas Se Tez Hain?, Utsav Ke Rang Stars Ke Sang (Advertiser Funded Program), Beauty and the Geek India, Akal meets Shakal, India’s Next Top Model and Test The Nation.

Behind Bulldog’s growth is Akash Sharma, its Founder and Managing Director. Prior to Bulldog, Akash has worked as project consultant for The World Bank and ATX Communications, a fully integrated communications provider.

Adgully spoke with Akash Sharma to know more about Bulldog’s plans. The following are the highlights of the tete-e-tete.

Adgully (AG): Give us a sense of how much time it has taken you to bring People’s Choice Awards to India?

Akash Sharma (AS): We went to see the People’s Choice Awards in the USA in 2009 and 2010. The rights were acquired in 2011 and now it is October 2012. So we are talking about 3-4 years that has taken to acquire and conceptualize/adapt the project for India.

AG: Shed some light on the reasons for choosing your broadcast partners, how did you zero down on them?

AS: Colours was just a natural fit because they are one of the leading channels in India and although fairly new, in a short period of time have become the market leaders. When we presented this property to Raj Nayak, within five minutes we understood his vision of the show and also that this was something we wanted to do with Colours. So we knew that as a broadcast partner, we were at the right place. It was also a matter of Colours taking ownership in terms of hosting the show and co-producing it. Raj really went out of his way in promoting and hosting the show. Hence Colours was a very natural fit for us.

AG: Is it a licensed format? For how many years? What are the other licensed formats that you have done?

AS: It is a licensed format. We have, I mean Bulldog has acquired the rights and we are the exclusive right holders for the Indian market. The license is for a specific time-period. We have also done the Indian version of “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” As also the Indian version of “The Beauty and the Geek. Currently we hold the rights to “The Next Top Model”. Bulldog has developed the format and content for India. Next is a boxing realty show for India. So we have a very robust pipeline of formats going forward.

AG: Earlier in the past, a lot of international content was brought to India and then localized by you; some succeeded some failed. Your take on that?

AS: I think some of it is just bad luck, some of it is right timing. Sometimes you have some formats of genres that are not suited for India and do not work. For instance adventure realty shows don’t really work in India. But I think one need to keep pushing the envelope, in trying new & tested formats for Indian market place. Be really innovative and try to make it fit. We  cannot ignore India for it has become a global market now.

AG: Kindly give us a business sense of the market space you are in. What shall be Bulldog Media & Entertainment's share in the same?

AS: We are right now looking at expanding our space in the entertainment space in India. In terms of content, Bulldog is looking to expand its production business and the formats business aggressively. Our strategy is pretty simple and that is to increase our presence in the market space. And the People’s Choice Awards is a great opportunity to connect with people across genres. The future for Bulldog is to expand in what really is our core which is production business and the licensing business. I think that’s the great opportunity and I am really excited about the road ahead.

AG: How easy or difficult is it to develop and customize content for Indian viewers?

AS: It is not easy. If it would have been easy, everyone would be doing it. I think one needs to go through trial & error, in fact a lot more error than success. It is a lot of experimentation. It is a risky and a difficult process but you have to be in the forefront of what is coming out in the international markets be it the US of the UK or anywhere else. So in that sense it is a challenge and we really enjoy it.

AG: What was the need gap that motivated to bring a format like the People's Choice Awards to India?

AS: When we saw the event, we knew it was a terrific format. What really stuck out was that this was a format that gave voice to the people. Knowing the clutter of similar events in India we felt that this show was something that was transparent and democratic. It represented a pop culture. And since we knew that digital has a huge growth prospects in India. Hence all these factors combined, the show was a natural fit to bring this property to India.

AG: Also share the goals and targets set for the next couple of years in the Indian media industry.

AS: In terms of target, success to us is not just ratings. Bulldog has long-term goals. We are looking to evaluate this show over 3 years. The first year will be testing and seeing the responses in different areas. Also there are a variety of factors to evaluate success. Post that we have to decide what we can do in the following years.

AG: Bulldog till date has been a low profile company. Are you going to work on your image front?

AS: See we are a B2B company; therefore we are not likely to be in the front or centre. Instead we will let our projects to speak for us. We do not have a big story to tell and we don’t tell anything. But whenever we have a big project coming up, Bulldog is very active in media. Moreover typically in such events, it is the broadcasters that publicize the show. As for India, we want to be active in promoting the shows, partnering with the broadcasters.

AG: Are there any Indian or regional formats that you are developing at this point of time?

AS: There are several. Some I have discussed – the one that have been already spoken about. I am very excited about “The Next Top Model” which is a hugely successful show in America. It has got an amazing global equity. I would prefer to keep a tightlipped about the other shows as there are companies who do the unlicensed formats and may take a cue.

AG: Any fiction shows in the pipeline?

AS: Our current focus is on no-fiction. But we see fiction shows picking up in the next five years as they are already doing well in the international markets. So I would not say that we are closed to fiction shows going forward.