MSM launches Sony Pal, high on positivity, expectations!

Contemporary, relatable yet inspirational stories which stand for positivity, vigor and contentment - Multi-Screen Media announced the launch of the network’s third GEC - SONY PAL with the promise to resonate with the ethos of the traditional yet modern Indian woman.

SONY PAL will applaud the entire gamut of emotions of womanhood and celebrate her journey through various moments that define her.

Slated to go on air from 1st September 2014, with the tagline ‘Yeh Pal Hamara Hai’, SONY PAL will inspire every Indian woman with the promise of liveliness and cheer. Adding to the elegance is the graceful Juhi Chawla as the face of SONY PAL.

Talking about the need that stimulated the birth of another GEC from the MSM stable, CEO of MSM Pvt Ltd N. P Singh stated that there is a latent demand for content of the kind that will be shown on Sony Pal. He shrugs off the query of whether or not will another Hindi GEC bite into the pie of the other channels from the network by stating that the since the core TG is women from the age group of 15-34 years, mainly from the Hindi-speaking-markets, there is no scope of cannibalization as each channel caters to different audiences and markets. “While Sony Entertainment Television caters to SEC A, B, C males and females in the 1 million+ towns, SAB is meant to appeal to a complete family across all TGs across geographies. But, Sony Pal will primarily appeal to women in SECs B, C, D and E in the heartland of the country who wish to watch differentiated content, with more positivity about their own lives. So, I believe, with the addition of Sonly Pal, the network now holds the strength to cater to a cross-section of viewership, regardless of geography, psychographic or demography”.

Singh goes on to state that the new channel will add onto the reach of the network in deeper markets of the Indian heartland, (that could have been missed out by SET or SAB TV) by following market segmentation strategy. “While there is a lot to be done as off now, we wish to stand by the brand message we devised for the channel – positive messaging, targeted at women in India that will ultimately make them feel more empowered and will have the ability to achieve what they want to achieve for themselves or for their families”, he added.

Sharing his thoughts on the same, Anooj Kapoor, Sr. EVP and Business Head, SONY PAL & SAB TV, said, “As the Indian society undergoes changes in the way it is positioned on socio-economic evolution, women today, without crossing the threshold of tradition, take up opportunities that they long to perform and gain success. And thus, since we are talking about empowering women, Sony Pal is about celebrating such moments! Our tagline - ‘Yeh Pal Hamara Hai’ - is not just a generic promise, but a direct, customised promise, were our audiences – women will realise, that the channel will show them what they are today, the achievements, their success, their endeavours etc, and not the misery they were shown decade ago”.

Speaking of the content and programming, Kapoor informed that the channel opens with a power pack of 9 shows – 7 dailies and 2 weekend properties. He points that the fiction line – up is high on positivity with no negative or grey-shade characters; but will make the situations the lead characters are into – negative in nature. For the weekend properties, Kapoor firmly states that MSM network, which believes in doing multiple permutations and combinations of music and dance reality shows, has woven the brand promise of Sony Pal in the talk show and the game show - empowering women and influence the personalities of the viewers. “Pal will present an eclectic mix of shows with empowering stories and identifiable characters that will have universal appeal”, added Singh

The channel has managed to bring together nine of India’s sought after television producers to open the channel with. These producers, who have worked across the Hindi GEC space, on various channel and genres, unanimously opined that developing concepts and putting up shows that stay true to the brand promise of Sony Pal, which is all about women, positivity and absolutely shunning away negativity was a challenge to all of them. The current show line-up–

The first-of-its-kind chat show, Simply Baatein with Raveena produced by GR8 Entertainment and anchored by Raveena Tandon will be a an interactive chat show where the host will address issues under a collective umbrella of ‘womanhood’ with fun, frolic and expert advice from the celebrated personalities of their selective fields.

A norm breaker among game shows, Dil Hain Chotasa Choti Si Asha will be a unique game show featuring charismatic women contestants who will bring to fore their emotional & inspiring stories. The show will see the most adored pairing of the small screen – Ragini Khanna and Jay Soni spreading their oomph and charm as show hosts. The show is produced by SOL production.

A modern-day narrative produced by Shashi Summet Productions, Ek Rishta Aisa Bhi brings to fore a unique ‘Jijaa- Saali relationship’ that will question the prevalent societal norms while weaving in a beautiful narrative. This unique jija will be played by none other than famous actor Rahul Sharma.

Produced by Miloni Films, Khushiyon Ki Gullakh Aashi traces the journey of a cheerful, jolly yet dejected Aashi whose life is spent in the yen to grow with parental love! The story takes an exciting twist when her innate desire to obtain parental love inspires her to adopt new parents.

Produced by Creative Eye, Singhasan Battisi will be a period drama based on the story of the throne of RajaVikramaditya with thirty two angel statues. Each episode will present unique collection of these primordial tales. Helming the show as the show lead will be Sayantani Ghosh.

Ada Khan will be seen as Pia in Pia Basanti Re produced by Rashmi Sharma & Pawan Kumar, chronicles the life story of a modest girl - Pia who believes that status & class arise not out of wealth but through capability & attitude. She is extremely proud of her mother who is a cook & believes is dignity of labour.

Set in the culture-steeped city of Lucknow produced by Sphere Origins, Tum Sath Ho Jaab Apne presents a special bond between a mother & daughter. Najma played by Anshoor Kaur aspires to achieve her dreams against all odds of life with the help of her Mom, Mariyaam played by Barkha Bisht who fosters her dreams against societal pressures and hardships.

Produced by the DJ’s Creative Unit, Sister Didi is the story of Amrita. Post her husband’s untimely demise, Amrita has taken up his dream & passion. She is the head nurse at his hospital. Amrita has a strong belief that apart from medicine, love and affection play an equally important role in healing a person. Amrita’s life takes an unexpected turn with the entry of her ex-husbands friend in her life –Dr Karan.

This tale of soul mates, Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hain is set in Bihar and charts the struggle of young lovers who fight against all odds and family opposition to unite with each other. Produced by Balaji Telefilms, this serial traces the life and times of two lovers who are in love but are destined to be apart.

While currently, the channel launches with evening prime-time, they believe that there is lot of ground to cover as far as other time bands through the day as concerned, for example afternoon slot, where a large section of housewives – also the TG of the channel, is not essentially occupied.

Both Singh and Kapoor mentioned that though there haven’t been any significant translations on the advertisers’ front, the response from advertisers has been positive on the channel. Citing the plausible reason for this Singh said, “Today, as every penny counts, advertisers would understandably like to see the product – the channel on air first, analyse its performance and then decide on their investment with it”. Both Kapoor and Singh refrained from sharing the possible ad-rates they are looking at, stating that it is too early to open up!

Sharing the reason for bringing in Juhi Chawla as brand ambassador for the channel, Singh said, “If one looks at the life graph of Juhi, she has been Miss India in the past, has had a very successful film career, following which she took up the responsibility of a wife, a mother and lately of a business woman as a co-owner of an IPL team! She has successfully depicted the true character of today’s woman – empowered! Also, Juhi has a very warm and approachable appeal to herself, so she fitted really well with the channel where she is finding moments of self-expression for herself, which is our channel all about”.

While the channel custodians refrained from shelling out the marketing and promotion plans, they said that there is a 360 degree marketing approach devised for the launch of Sony Pal, starting 10th August 2014, leading upto 1st September 2014.
 
They also informed that on the distribution front, , understanding that the launch reach itself is of supreme importance, Sony Pal will be available on all leading MSO’s  - DEN Networks, Hathway Cable & Datacom, Siti Cable, Digicable and Fastway in Punjab and will also be present on all the direct to home (DTH) operators.