Netflix tie-up, Baba Ramdev’s biopic – Discovery Jeet aims to win Indians’ hearts

Discovery Communications is venturing into the GEC space for the first time with Discovery Jeet, its Hindi general entertainment channel for the Indian market. Built on the ethos of ‘Hai Mumkin’, the channel will go live on February 12, 2018. 

Discovery Jeet will kick off with 5 hours of programming band daily, out of which 3 hours will be bespoke, ground-up original programming built on the thesis of underdog winning. The channel will have 2 hours of original content on weekends. Discovery Jeet will be available in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu languages. 

Speaking at the launch, Karan Bajaj, Senior Vice-President & General Manager - South Asia, Discovery Communications India, said, “Discovery Jeet is the biggest ever attempt with ‘purpose at scale’ in the Indian entertainment space.” Commenting on the content plan, Bajaj said, “We are very clear in what we are doing. Movies can easily be acquired by anybody in the market, therefore we will focus on our original content.” 

With an aim to reach more than 100 million households, Discover Jeet will be available on all leading DTH and cable platforms across the country. Keeping in mind growing consumption of content on digital, Discovery Communications India has signed on Netflix as the exclusive global OTT platform partner for the content of Discovery Jeet. This deal will make available Discovery Jeet’s content to audiences in more than 190 countries world-wide. Netflix communities globally will be able to binge-watch each series after it is aired on the Discovery Jeet channel in India. 

According to Bajaj, there are 250 million TV households in India, of which the top 15 million households watch premium TV, where Discovery has the strongest affinity. The middle 110 million households use mass TV, while 120 million households have FTA channels. Bajaj further said that Discovery now wants to create the same affinity with these 120 million households. “In digital, we have 360+ videos and 300 million views. Netflix is our exclusive global partner for an extraordinary global exposure,” he added. 

On the need to launch a new channel, Bajaj said, “The three most important pillars of launching any product are – Purposeful Product, Distribution Everywhere and Marketing Phenomenon.” 

He informed that Discover Jeet has a three-pronged marketing approach. “Firstly, we have very high investments in advertising on the TV side. Secondly, we have reached out to the grassroot level in a big way. Lastly, we have the digital part, which is very unusual,” he said, adding, “On the distribution side, we will be on every pay platform. For Jeet, the promotions will commence from January 25, while the digital promotions will begin earlier from this Friday (January 12).” 

Bajaj further said, “We are aiming for a heavy mass reach and will use print and outdoor in a few high density areas. We also have in place a robust digital campaign in the social and mobile space.” 

Taproot Dentsu and Infectious have been roped in as the creative agency, while GroupM’s agency M/Six is the media agency on board.

Discover Jeet is primarily targeted at the audiences in Tier 2 and 3 towns. The underdog winning forms the core thesis of the channel and as such, the marketing campaign will focus on the key tentpole properties – ‘Swami Ramdev: Ek Sangharsh’, ‘21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi 1897’ and ‘Mere Papa Hero Hiralal’ – capturing the insurmountable odds that the protagonists had to overcome in their lives to achieve success. 

‘21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi 1897’ has been produced by Contiloe Pictures. Abhimanyu Singh, Founder of Contiloe Pictures, commented, “Discovery is a fantastic brand. It has always made shows that have gone beyond entertainment, and that is something that I stand by. Thus, we thought of associating with Discovery Jeet.” 

Commenting on ‘21 Sarfarosh: Saragarhi 1897’, Singh said, “When I first discussed the story concept with Sameer Rao (VP - Head of Mass Entertainment - South Asia, Discovery Communications India), he told me that it sounded like a film idea which finishes in a day. But for me, the concept is about the 21 soldiers. I wanted to tell their stories, who these people were and what made them to go beyond their limitations through this show. It’s a finite series with 65 episodes.”

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