Nachiket Pantvaidya, VP-Programming & Production, Sony Entertainment
K Soaps on Sony and Star are very different. On Sony, serials focus on Individuals while on Star they focus on families.
K Soaps on Sony and Star are very different. On Sony, serials focus on Individuals while on Star they focus on families.Content is King, Nachiket Pantvaidya, in this extensive chat with Nawal Ahuja of exchange4media shares what make Sony's programming stand out and what the next milestones are... Q. Movies cannot be a sustainable edge... "For a channel, movies are not really a creative product. They are something we buy off the shelf. So the competitive edge for movies keeps getting eroded as you go on. Basically there is a bidding war out there. Both Star and Sony are bidding for the same blockbusters!"
Q. On fundamental changes in TV programming in the last four-five years... "Couple of fundamental shifts has taken place. Before KBC, we caught up with the leader - Zee by vibrant programming and innovative packaging. To be candid, I think, our content was not very different from that of Zee. But the variety of content and the packaging was the thing that differentiated us. But that phase soon got over because there was a third player- Star who came in with same multinational skills in packaging and its content and they got a major hit. What happened post KBC was re-defining of audiences. If you saw the satellite trends before KBC, you will rarely find any top rated show giving more than 11% TVRs but Star succeed in attracting much more viewers on to television and suddenly got the ratings to 18% TVRs, which means much larger number of people started watching. So, we saw a shift in the volume of people coming on to watch the TV during KBC. Having done that, Star defined a position for TV content as something, which is family, not controversial, and easy to watch, which was not the trend earlier. We had set the tone with CID, Bhanwar, Aahat, Movers & Shakers, Boogie Woogie, which are not really the shows that are non-controversial. With this whole new genre of shows, which I think is family targeted, started a generation of laid back TV watching: You know you can sit back and get entertained. The viewer doesn't want to get provoked out of his seat today; he doesn't want somebody to make him think or act. This brought about another paradigm shift that happened in terms of qualitative shift. The quantitative shift was there in terms of huge numbers that KBC and other shows brought about. But qualitatively, it changed the way we watch TV. Going back, in 1997, most of the TV programmes were entertainment on a platform. That was like going to stage and seeing somebody perform. But because of this family and identification thing that caught up, viewers were able to identify with the character on their TV screen. So, separation between TV as a medium of entertainment and TV as a member of the family has become thinner and thinner. This is an important change in viewership pattern happening around."
Q. On programming philosophy and what differentiate it from others... "Philosophy can be differentiated between future launches and current launches. There are a couple of things. One, I think is from a strategic point of view; it is very critical for us to establish a basic fertile viewership number before we implement a philosophy. With the launch of Kahin Na Kahin Koi Hai and many other shows, we will complete that exercise soon. Say in a couple of months. But I don't think we want to differentiate for the sake of differentiation. We hope that about 10% of the programming should always draw fresh viewers and 90% of the programming should be like a staple diet. We hope that this 10% innovation, which in this case is match-making (KNKKH) or 'Bach Ke Rahna', will inject in fresher audiences and the audiences that get injected actually want that staple diet also. They want there dal chawal through our soaps and dramas. While on our programming philosophy, at every time slot, we want to give our consumers a choice vis-à-vis competition. So if there is a thriller playing somewhere else, we don't want to put a thriller against it because we believe that both the channels or all the three channels will lose viewer since he is forced to make a choice between things that are similar. So, our programming strategy vis-à-vis competition will be geared towards giving choice to the viewer. "
Q. Channel identity... "Ambience plays a key role in getting audiences interested. We are not in a touch-feel medium like selling soap or selling a cola. TV is a medium where somebody is investing a precious amount of its time watching. I think ambience and programming sign-offs is a way of telling the viewer that you respect his time. With programming signoff, what you are saying to a viewer is that we want to entertain you but we respect your time, so we want to tell you what is going to happen next. "
Q. On the programming selection process... "Over the years, programming selection has become a complex affair. Primarily, the creative concept is a dominant part of selection process. It is the most important thing on our minds. Once we are ok with the creative concept, we look for the execution, so that's probably the second item. And lastly, there are commercial concentrations."
Q. On Programming milestones at Sony TV... "Sholay...Lata Mangeshkar Live...Movers & Shakers...Heena…Kkusum…Kutumb...were some of the key developments, if not milestones. I think the first blockbuster was when we had Sholay on Sony TV. That really was the first milestone and got us into the reckoning. The next was Lata Concert, which we slotted on a Monday and it really got us numbers and then Wednesday and Thursday night programming followed. The focus then was just two days, two nights really, which got us our first programming success - Just Mohabbat, Hum Sab Ek Hain, CID etc. Thereafter, we did Movers & Shakers and Heena. Finally, I would say Kkusum and Kutumb"
Q. All prime-time programming is not similar... "From the viewers perspective not all soaps are the same. As a matter of fact, if you take the K soaps, they will find the shows on Sony and Star completely different. ` Why? The milieu and the appeal of all the Star shows is distinctly 'family', the entire show either KSBKBT or Kahani… are about relationships within the family. Our soaps are about individuals and their lives. So, if you take Kkusum, the crux of the story is one girl. If you take Kutumb, its about Pratham and Gouri. So, it's about individuals. The viewer certainly is making that distinction in her mind. Sometimes even I say 'arey yeh to sab same lagta hai' but if you talk to the viewers they have a qualitative distinction. They have a distinct position of each of them in their mind, Kkusum to Kkusum ki kahani hai, or Kutumb is about love and hate. "
Q. The game has changed... "Innovative programming like Boogie Woogie has its limitations. In the environment, at a certain point, the expectations of ratings became 18 from 8. So, Henna was getting a good 8 TRPs but was 10 rating points less than others. Actually, today the ratings of Sony are probably the best ever ratings in the history of the channel but overall the benchmarks have increased. "
Q. Role of research and gut feel in programming... "The selection of programming concept works only on gut feels nothing else! But after that, research plays a role. The placement of concept, the execution and other programming parameters are also important."
Q. On fundamental changes in TV programming in the last four-five years... "Couple of fundamental shifts has taken place. Before KBC, we caught up with the leader - Zee by vibrant programming and innovative packaging. To be candid, I think, our content was not very different from that of Zee. But the variety of content and the packaging was the thing that differentiated us. But that phase soon got over because there was a third player- Star who came in with same multinational skills in packaging and its content and they got a major hit. What happened post KBC was re-defining of audiences. If you saw the satellite trends before KBC, you will rarely find any top rated show giving more than 11% TVRs but Star succeed in attracting much more viewers on to television and suddenly got the ratings to 18% TVRs, which means much larger number of people started watching. So, we saw a shift in the volume of people coming on to watch the TV during KBC. Having done that, Star defined a position for TV content as something, which is family, not controversial, and easy to watch, which was not the trend earlier. We had set the tone with CID, Bhanwar, Aahat, Movers & Shakers, Boogie Woogie, which are not really the shows that are non-controversial. With this whole new genre of shows, which I think is family targeted, started a generation of laid back TV watching: You know you can sit back and get entertained. The viewer doesn't want to get provoked out of his seat today; he doesn't want somebody to make him think or act. This brought about another paradigm shift that happened in terms of qualitative shift. The quantitative shift was there in terms of huge numbers that KBC and other shows brought about. But qualitatively, it changed the way we watch TV. Going back, in 1997, most of the TV programmes were entertainment on a platform. That was like going to stage and seeing somebody perform. But because of this family and identification thing that caught up, viewers were able to identify with the character on their TV screen. So, separation between TV as a medium of entertainment and TV as a member of the family has become thinner and thinner. This is an important change in viewership pattern happening around."
Q. On programming philosophy and what differentiate it from others... "Philosophy can be differentiated between future launches and current launches. There are a couple of things. One, I think is from a strategic point of view; it is very critical for us to establish a basic fertile viewership number before we implement a philosophy. With the launch of Kahin Na Kahin Koi Hai and many other shows, we will complete that exercise soon. Say in a couple of months. But I don't think we want to differentiate for the sake of differentiation. We hope that about 10% of the programming should always draw fresh viewers and 90% of the programming should be like a staple diet. We hope that this 10% innovation, which in this case is match-making (KNKKH) or 'Bach Ke Rahna', will inject in fresher audiences and the audiences that get injected actually want that staple diet also. They want there dal chawal through our soaps and dramas. While on our programming philosophy, at every time slot, we want to give our consumers a choice vis-à-vis competition. So if there is a thriller playing somewhere else, we don't want to put a thriller against it because we believe that both the channels or all the three channels will lose viewer since he is forced to make a choice between things that are similar. So, our programming strategy vis-à-vis competition will be geared towards giving choice to the viewer. "
Q. Channel identity... "Ambience plays a key role in getting audiences interested. We are not in a touch-feel medium like selling soap or selling a cola. TV is a medium where somebody is investing a precious amount of its time watching. I think ambience and programming sign-offs is a way of telling the viewer that you respect his time. With programming signoff, what you are saying to a viewer is that we want to entertain you but we respect your time, so we want to tell you what is going to happen next. "
Q. On the programming selection process... "Over the years, programming selection has become a complex affair. Primarily, the creative concept is a dominant part of selection process. It is the most important thing on our minds. Once we are ok with the creative concept, we look for the execution, so that's probably the second item. And lastly, there are commercial concentrations."
Q. On Programming milestones at Sony TV... "Sholay...Lata Mangeshkar Live...Movers & Shakers...Heena…Kkusum…Kutumb...were some of the key developments, if not milestones. I think the first blockbuster was when we had Sholay on Sony TV. That really was the first milestone and got us into the reckoning. The next was Lata Concert, which we slotted on a Monday and it really got us numbers and then Wednesday and Thursday night programming followed. The focus then was just two days, two nights really, which got us our first programming success - Just Mohabbat, Hum Sab Ek Hain, CID etc. Thereafter, we did Movers & Shakers and Heena. Finally, I would say Kkusum and Kutumb"
Q. All prime-time programming is not similar... "From the viewers perspective not all soaps are the same. As a matter of fact, if you take the K soaps, they will find the shows on Sony and Star completely different. ` Why? The milieu and the appeal of all the Star shows is distinctly 'family', the entire show either KSBKBT or Kahani… are about relationships within the family. Our soaps are about individuals and their lives. So, if you take Kkusum, the crux of the story is one girl. If you take Kutumb, its about Pratham and Gouri. So, it's about individuals. The viewer certainly is making that distinction in her mind. Sometimes even I say 'arey yeh to sab same lagta hai' but if you talk to the viewers they have a qualitative distinction. They have a distinct position of each of them in their mind, Kkusum to Kkusum ki kahani hai, or Kutumb is about love and hate. "
Q. The game has changed... "Innovative programming like Boogie Woogie has its limitations. In the environment, at a certain point, the expectations of ratings became 18 from 8. So, Henna was getting a good 8 TRPs but was 10 rating points less than others. Actually, today the ratings of Sony are probably the best ever ratings in the history of the channel but overall the benchmarks have increased. "
Q. Role of research and gut feel in programming... "The selection of programming concept works only on gut feels nothing else! But after that, research plays a role. The placement of concept, the execution and other programming parameters are also important."
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