Channel [v] chalks out aggressive plans; music to remain a big part of programming mix

Not much has been heard from Channel [v] of late. However, the channel has been rebranding itself, introducing several new shows and shoring up its music content. With the advent of the new year, Channel [v] is on an aggressive growth path. Prem Kamath, General Manager, Marketing, shares the channels plans with exchange4media.

One of Kamath’s key mandates when he joined Channel [v] in early 2009 was to revive the brand and infuse a new sense of energy into it, both internally and from a consumer standpoint. “All the research that we did at that point of time indicated that we needed to make a fundamental shift in terms of our content strategy and the way we were pitching the channel. So, the channel is an outcome of the views and opinions of the consumers that we spoke to,” Kamath explained.

Following the rebranding, 65 per cent of the content on the channel continues to be music, while the rest is made up of various shows. Shows tend to give disproportionate GRPs and as much as 45 per cent of the channel’s GRPs come from these shows because the yield of shows is much better than music content. “A lot of our shows have been successful to a large extent and hence, the direction we took has been validated and the direction we are going towards does seem good as well,” he added.

The original slots for these shows were on weekend evenings (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), but there are approximately 8-9 repeats throughout the week as well. Currently, there are six shows on Channel [v] – ‘Dare 2 Date’, ‘Kidnap’, ‘The Player’, ‘School of Cool’, ‘Campus Blog’ and ‘Lola Sunday’. So, will there be an increase in the number of shows in 2010? Kamath refuses to put a number to the shows that would be launched, but added, “Our stated approach was that our programming strategy will closely reflect what the consumer needs from entertainment and that is a continues and evolutionary process and something that we constant get feedback from our viewers, and not only in terms of numbers, but also in terms of what they like watching online or on TV.”

Kamath admitted that the channel had not been aggressive in the past couple of years as it was before as far as shows were concerned and added that it was just a return to roots for them.

The channel claims to have seen a four-fold increase in channel share after the revamp and having received a good response from advertisers as well.

While the shows are getting the channel what it desires, there has been a set of people who feel that music should be the core of the channel as it has been so for the longest time. According to Kamath, this was bound to happen when a well-known brand took a slight shift in terms of the direction it wanted to go.

He added, “That is something that is expected. But I do hope that those people realise that music is a big part of our programming mix even now, and as far there is demand for it and there is consumer attraction for that kind of content, it will be continue to be on the channel.”

Kamath’s mandate for 2010 is to consolidate the gains that Channel [v] has made and continue to grow at the pace that the channel has grown in the past six months.

Viewers can also expect a whole array of shows in 2010 and all of them would be central to 3-4 hot buttons related to youth. For example, relationship, colleges, etc. The channel also wants to start a show related to Bollywood. Some of the shows will get replaced (for example, ‘Kidnap’) to make way for the new shows. There is also a possibility that old shows such as ‘Get Gorgeous’ and ‘Launchpad’ might be revived.

The channel does not plan to undertake any major restructuring as of now. It may be recalled that in September 2009, Saurabh Kanwar (who was VP, Content and Communication) had put in his papers. Since then, Kamath has been looking after what Kanwar used to handle and there are no immediate plans to find a replacement.

Meanwhile, the main challenge for Channel [v] is that the type of audience that it caters to is constantly changing and evolving, and the channel needs to keep up with that.