"The increasingly maturing lifestyle space in India is at an inflection point"

After completing five years in the market, NDTV Good Times has renewed its focus by re-positioning, re-branding and re-programming to reach out to the young and the young at heart. With a keen eye on emerging and evolving consumer tastes and preferences, the channel will now focus on providing younger, cooler, edgier and more relevant content to a young and dynamic audience with its new tagline #LiveYoung.

In conversation with exchange4media, Smeeta Chakrabarti, CEO, NDTV Lifestyle speaks about the thought process behind the new tagline, factors contributing to the growth of the lifestyle genre in India, and more...

Rupee depreciation has impacted corporate, including media companies, in a significant way. How much have the advertising sentiments been hurt, and are we seeing a turnaround soon?
While the overall macro environment is challenging and volatile, we are encouraged by the positive trend of the Rupee and market and are hopeful of next year opening strong.

When it comes to niche channels subscription revenues are going up, while carriage fees are falling. Comment.
Yes, carriage fees are going down, however we are hoping that the subscription market will improve.

What was the thought process behind the new tagline #liveyoung? How do you plan to attract the young viewers through this?
With an increasingly maturing lifestyle space in India at an inflection point, and as pioneers/ leaders in that space, we are redefining the lifestyle entertainment category codes by now catering to the youth and focusing on food, travel and fashion. Our content, look, feel and packaging will now clearly reflect this change. As arguably the only brand in the country to deeply integrate and recognise social media as a part of its DNA, we plan to leverage our digital assets to promote the refresh.

What are the factors contributing to the positive growth in the lifestyle genre?
The overall genre is growing on the back of Indians wanting to live better, eat better, travel more and enjoying life. And the key factors for us are in-depth understanding of how India looks at lifestyle, relatable anchors, a strong advertiser connect and cult shows such as ‘Highway on My Plate’ and ‘Band Baja Bride’.

Going forward, what will be the key focus areas for NDTV lifestyle?
We are aiming to be India’s youngest lifestyle channel, providing interesting, cutting-edge entertaining lifestyle content. We are extremely clear about who our audience is, what they like, what they will like, and where and how they consume content. We feel that with this refresh, we will forge a deeper and more relevant connect with our audience and cement our position as India’s leading lifestyle entertainment destination.