How MOVIES NOW surges ahead among English movie channels in India

Movies Now, a six months old channel has been doing remarkably well. The English genre based channel is growing its popularity with the already successful channels like Star Movies HBO, PIX, WB, World Movies in the market. The channel has been no.1 in 22 out of 26 weeks. The channel has not only dominated the ratings in the English Movie category, but has also catapulted the entire category by a 22% in terms of reach and has phenomenally increased the time spent on the category by 28%, a first for the genre.

"The channel's viewership growth has increased up to 63 per cent with the fact being the tuning of millions of viewers." As according Ajay Trigunayat, Channel Head, MOVIES NOW

The channel has already reached 56 million viewers and the average time spent by viewers is 55 minutes. The channel with 34% channel share is no.1 across all metros, no.1 across weekdays, no.1 across weekends, no.1 in all time bands, and no.1 in all India amongst 1mn+ viewers. It is expected that the genre might touch Rs 3.8 billion this fiscal. The expected target is to earn revenue of Rs 950 million. The channel has raced ahead of competition with an average of 24 GRPs, which is the highest among this genre.

Speaking on the same, Ajay Trigunayat said "I am ecstatic at the audience response to the channel offering. We have put in extensive research on the viewership patterns of the category, before we created our content plans. We were very clear that MOVIES NOW is going to address the need for the much required fast paced Hollywood blockbusters in HD, which the audience can watch and enjoy over and over again. The instant viewer acceptance and success received by the channel validates our theory and we will continue to deliver the best of entertainment to our audiences."

With such an optimistic start, Movies Now is looking at an early break-even as it laps up more audiences and gains in distribution across cable networks and DTH.

The channel has not only struck a chord with the audiences, but has also established itself as a premium Hollywood destination and hence managed to liaise with advertisers who seek a premium environment for their brands.

Movies Now has a library of 450 films and they are still in negotiation with many players. The channel is planning to make serious attempts to retain their 34% share and has even enhanced its bond with the viewers by creating properties like Rocky Reloaded in HD, Pink Panther, Love Boat and Shoaling Masters. The thrill of watching all-time favourite movies in HD makes it an irresistible proposition for movie-lovers. | By Aanchal Kohli [aanchal(at)adgully.com]