It's possible to run a channel with subscription-led model in India now: Ryan Shiotani

On July 7, BBC Studios announced the re-launch of its popular children’s channel CBeebies in India after eight years. CBeebies is a dedicated pre-school channel that brings ad-free content to India. The channel is aimed at children aged six years and under and offers a distinctive range of programming, from animation to live-action, designed to encourage learning through play in a consistently safe environment. 

In a conversation with exchange4media, Ryan Shiotani, SVP and GM, South and Southeast Asia, BBC Studios, shares the content plan and strategy for the re-launched channel in India. 

Edited excerpts:  

Eight years back BBC Worldwide decided to shut down Cbeebies in India due to commercial considerations. Do you think that has changed now? 

First of all, in terms of the overall markets, India is a vibrant and growing media market. Also, India is a young country with a young population. We believe India is a market that's important to be in. We also know that from when we were in the market previously with our channel, Cbeebies content has always been popular in India which was something quite positive. 

And then specifically about what has changed in terms of the business conditions, if we go back eight years, one of the things was when there were delays in the digitization of platforms, the operators had to face a lot of capacity issues at the time. Now there's been a great growth in terms of infrastructure and there are no more of these capacity issues on pay TV. 

In addition, if we go back eight years, the predominant business model for pay TV was the carriage fee model as channel providers were paying carriage fees to the operators for carriage. Now things have changed and it's possible to run a channel with a subscription-led model.  

What is unique about our situation is that we have a very strong distribution team in India in the form of the BBC Global news team who we are partnering with to distribute with BBC World News panels across India. Given the strength and the relationship that they have in the market, there will be a distribution advantage there. Also, this is a unique learning-to- play product that we have in the market. 

Why did you choose this period for the launch when we are in the middle of a pandemic?

Our approach is that we are going with a subscription-led model in the market. We're not affected by the declining advertising budget during this period. In fact, for us, it's very important that Cbeebies is a safe and an ad-free environment/channel for preschoolers. 

BBC is really about informing, educating and entertaining audiences, and we have seen that during the pandemic. We're happy to be able to give quality content and ad-free educational space for children to operators, parents, preschoolers during this time. 

What is the subscription cost for the channel?

We are managing the cost structure very closely and it’s based on a subscription model. The TRAI rate for CBeebies channel is Rs 4/- for the BBC bundle and Rs5/- for CBeebies on its own (a la carte).

What is going to be your content strategy for the India market? 

To start with, it will be the international Cbeebies content which comes from Cbeebies in the UK, which is the number one children's channel. Our strategy is to provide content which focuses on learning through play. Our content is developed with the involvement of child development specialists with specific curriculum goals in mind. So that's how we approach the content and it is content which is able to travel universally. This channel is available in multiple markets around the world such as Taiwan, Singapore, Poland, South Africa etc. It is content which travels very well. In terms of the content, another thing that makes us unique is that we do a combination of animation and live action on the channel which is a  bit different from other channels. We would like to look at local content for the future. 

At this point, it's just in English language, but we are looking at adding regional languages as we go on. Some of the feedback that we have had from having been in the market is that the viewers do appreciate the fact that Cbeebies can be a way to introduce and expose preschoolers to spoken English. 

For example, on the channel, we have a series which again is a mixture of animation and live action. It features an animated girl who introduces new words in each episode which gives kids the confidence in new words, increases the vocabulary and boosts their self esteem. We think that the English aspect is something that is said to resonate in India.

What is your core market in India? 

We are looking at the metros, but I would say that the strategy is to reach also into the tier II and tier III markets. The channel is already available to more than 33 million households now. 

With a brand like Cbeebies, it's about learning through play. Cbeebies is a very healthy educational fun channel. The environment is something that has appeal across India.

 The kids are spending a lot of time on mobile phones and on YouTube. Do you think that will have any impact on the viewership of the channel?

These days kids, especially older kids, are consuming content on digital. But preschoolers are still consuming content on linear and digital. In regards to YouTube, for example, we do have our Cbeebies YouTube channel but the content which is available on the platform is a clip and songs, so for the whole episode we need to go through the linear channel. Also, we want to have the widest reach possible that's why we have the strategy for both digital and linear media in the market.

How are you marketing the launch of the channel, especially during the pandemic? 

The typical way was to do a lot of on-ground activations and on-ground events, which of course is not possible during this time. Therefore, we are focusing on a number of ways of reaching audiences. First will be via social media and social media campaigns. We think during this period, a lot of promotion has gone onto social media which is a great way to connect with parents. Another way is partnering with the platform with our affiliate partners, providing on-air promos and assets for them to promote. Certainly, for Cbeebies, we will work with parenting magazines, websites, media which is targeted particularly for parents.