Thursday, Jan 26, 2012

Gulf News

Company’s channel Colors sees success in India and hopes for repeat performance in the Middle East and beyond

Dubai The battle for the Middle East’s advertising dollar among Indian TV satellite channels has just become more intense. Viacom18, which owns the general entertainment channel Colors, has set up a regional office in Dubai to directly handle its advertising, marketing and distribution operations.

In the three years since it went live in India, Colors — which has a progamme line-up that includes Bigg Boss, the Indian version of the Big Brother — has eased into the top two spots among Hindi entertainment channels in terms of viewership numbers. And it intends to have a repeat performance in the Middle East, but based on ad revenues generated.

Over the last 14 months, Colors has been available through the Pehla platform in the Gulf as well as on cable networks operated by the likes of etisalat and Qtel. It has also managed to make inroads into Africa, by being available on satellite TV platforms as well as through syndicated programming deals with other broadcasters.

Hands-on approach

With the new office in place, Viacom18 will have more of a hands-on approach to these markets. “Wherever there is a large Indian diaspora, the opportunity exists to develop our ad revenues and cement our position,” said Gaurav Gandhi, head of distribution and international operations at Viacom18.

“In that context, the US, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific represent huge opportunities to translate the eyeballs into ad dollars for us. That’s the logic behind our international operations launched just two years ago.

“In this region, the platform deals are what this office will look after. The idea is to expand the footprint not only on cable broadcast platforms, but look to others such as IPTV as we go along.

“Where a sizable Indian diaspora does not exist, the strategy is to seek distribution arrangements for the Colors content through syndication, which can then be dubbed or sub-titled. It’s already being done for our African viewers and more opportunities exist there.”

As of now, Colors is available in more than 50 countries as a full-fledged channel, and that number swells to more than 100 if syndication deals are included.

Over the last two years, its international revenues have gone up by 100 per cent, according to Gandhi. He would not say whether the channel is profitable, though market feedback suggests it is.

According to him, if South Asian language channels account for $30 million (Dh110 million) a year in the region, Hindi channels should ideally make up half of that. And Colors wants a sizeable share of the latter.

To get to that point, all of the efforts of the past year and more should play their parts. “The first year was about creating a following for the channel and its content in the local market,” said Gandhi. “We have done that to a great extent and after the hard work it’s time for us to monetise our viewer numbers from an ad dollar perspective. We need to be in the top two among Hindi channels in terms of ad revenues.

“Right from the time of launching in India, we were clear about the content mix — that Colors would stand for wholesome family entertainment. It applies just as well in the Middle East.”

AFP

Expansion plans

Bollywood actors Sanjay Dutt (left) and Salman Khan on the set of Bigg Boss Season 5. Colors is available in more than 50 countries as a full-fledged channel, and that number swells to more than 100 if syndication deals are included.

meter

rating system

South Asian satellite channels, and particularly those in Hindi, would get their fair share of the region’s ad dollar only when TV meters become a reality, according to Gaurav Gandhi of Viacom18.

“The majority of the other ad markets have fairly robust audience measurement systems on television programmes,” Gandhi said. “Until you have them here as well, it would be difficult to make changes to the mindsets of advertisers and agencies.

“What this market needs is the hard currency of TV ratings like in the rest of the world. It will happen here as well, but it will be good if it’s done soon.”

— M. N.

In this region, the platform deals are what this office will look after. The idea is to expand the footprint not only on cable broadcast platforms, but look to others such as IPTV as we go along.”

Gaurav Gandhi

Head of distribution and international operations, Viacom18

By Manoj Nair?Associate Editor

Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.