Filmi chakkar

Close on the heels of E24,came Imagine Showbiz,but within a couple of years of its launch it had to down its curtains. Initially launched as a joint venture between NDTV and Cinestar Advertising,it was bought out by Turner Asia Pacific Ventures and early this year Reliance Broadcast took over and reports suggest that they will be using the platform to launch a Hindi GEC.

However,Imagine Showbizs non-performance did not deter others from jumping into the fray. Zoom,which was launched as a lifestyle channel in 2004,turned itself into Bollywood channel with the tagline Indias No 1 Bollywood channel. Says Avinash Kaul,CEO,Zoom,When we talk about lifestyle,it is typically about the rich and famous but technically fashion and glamour is associated with B-Town stars,which is why we decided to concentrate on that. It was also a process of sharpening the focus and better monetisation. Currently,45 per cent content comprises music,35 per cent is devoted to Bollywood features that include reviews,page 3 people and business of cinema. Soon they will be launching a show called Big Story,which will debate a filmi issue.

Not only Zoom,even Zing evolved itself into a Bollywood channel. Zing was first launched in 1997 as a music channel Music Asia,relaunched as Zee Muzic in 2000,revamped in 2005 and finally repackaged as Zing,with the tagline Bollywood madness in 2009. The channel features stars fashion trends,news and gossip apart from music. As Anurag Bedi,Business Head,Niche Channels,Zee Network puts it,Take any Bollywood channel,it plays 10 to 12 hours of music and the remaining eight hours are filled with either movies,news or other features.

Soon,a new channel,targetted at the youth,UTV Stars is all set to enter the market but the question is how different can it be from the existing players in the market. Arent viewers already saturated with enough and more of filmi content? No, says M.K. Anand,CEO,UTV Broadcasting,adding that people believe Bollywood is a mythical place with a lot of melodrama. So as a channel,the taste,texture and theme of UTV Stars will be the differentiator, he informs. He should know for he was earlier the Business Head of rival channel Zoom. When asked what were the learnings of his previous stint,Anand sidesteps the query saying that currently theres no TV channel that offers an insiders perspective about Bollywood,which UTV Stars will,by virtue of being part of a network that is into movie production. We have the full support of UTV Motion pictures and the film industry,as well,which was evident by the presence of stalwarts like Yash Chopra,Ashutosh Gowariker,Karan Johar and Farah Khan at the launch, he says proudly. UTV Stars has also managed to rope in Preity Zinta who will be hosting a chat show on the channel. Explaining the reason behind the tagline that its the official Bollywood channel,Anand says,Films are UTVs bread and butter,and the channel is a natural extension thus giving an insiders view.

Kaul doesnt buy that. According to him theres nothing official about Bollywood. It is anything but official,it is full of gossip and scandal,so the official channel line beats mel he scoffs. Forget being an insider,Kaul feels that being in the production business may have its disadvantages. A channel requires neutrality,which Zoom has. We arent into film business so we have no vested interests, he declares. He instead waxes eloquent about the channel,owned by the Times Group,having an edge over its competitors because of its vast media network. The fact that we are into diverse media like print,radio,online and TV gives us a cutting edge which nobody has, points out Kaul claiming that Zoom is the No.1 channel in social media. As for the ratings for the shows,they vary between .15 to .18 peaking at .4.

Incidentally,ratings of these channels cannot be compared to GECs as they cater to a niche audience,in most cases it is the youth aged between 15 -24. Affirms Bedi of Zing,Ratings are not a talking point for these channels. But it is the easiest genre to launch if you have enough software,like Zee does. It is also a way of adding to a networks bouquet,irrespective of whether it works big time or not. More often than not,these channels also have a distribution problem. Prasad is still trying to work it out and is hoping that E24 will get a proper platform by next year. Anand of UTV Stars is also concentrating on procuring a good distribution network apart from differentiated content. But even with everything in place do Bollywood channels and the newest entrant UTV Stars have a scope in the overcrowded TV space? The headroom for this channel will be around R 120-150 crores which is decent to begin with, quips Anand.

However Manas Mishra,Executive Vice President,Mudra Max,a media planning agency,is not convinced about the scope and sustenance of Bollywood channels. All news,GEC,Hindi movie channels cover Bollywood. What will a Bollywood channel cover that they dont? Thats the key. Also advertisers have shown no specific interest till date and are interested in these channels only as fillers to the main plan, he dismisses. chaya.unnikrishnanexpressindia.com