We are targeting to double our reach by next quarter: Sanjay Sindhe, AllTime

Goldenmen Studios (GMS) as an entity came into existence in the second half of 2018. The overarching vision for the company was to provide wholesome entertainment to Kannadigas across the world.
Sanjay Sindhe, Channel Head, AllTime & Executive Director, Goldenmen Studios says, “As part of this vision, the roadmap envisaged our presence both in satellite TV and myriad digital platforms in a phased manner under the umbrella brand SiriKannada. Hence, in the first phase, we commenced our operations with the launch of the AllTime TV channel. Initially, we launched AllTime as a destination for Kannada Cinema Fans with very high contribution of movies.”

At launch in December 2018, AllTime opened to a GRP of 20.3. However, since the launch, AllTime has weathered many storms that impacted the television industry, starting with the implementation of TRAI’s NTO (new tariff order), roll out of GST and the economic slowdown that impacted advertising and ad-rates. However, the recent lockdown on account of the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the channel hard but things are now looking up. Says Sindhe, “The most drastic has been this pandemic which straight away impacted the contraction of advertising revenue and the subsequent crashing of ad rates. I think we have seen the worst and this month we seem to have turned the corner.”

The All New AllTime

In June 2020, AllTime transitioned as a GEC with the launch of four fictions and couple of non-fiction shows. “As part of our initial roadmap, we were to pivot as a complete GEC in 12-18 months. As from a timing perspective it may look little foolhardy to do it now during the pandemic. However, all reports indicate that the impact of Covid-19 is here to stay for a long time, hence we continued as per our timeline,” says Sindhe.

Commenting on how the advertisers have responded to the revamped AllTime, he says, “The response has been very encouraging with a lot of new advertisers coming on board. We are confident that the new content mix will lead to increased GRPs and as a natural outcome of this will also impact our yield positively.”

The revamped AllTime content strategy is a mix of fiction & non-fiction shows and movies. Currently, following the format of the other GEC channels, most of the original programming telecast airs in the primetime slot, with repeats during non-primetime slot and movies in the afternoon slot. With the pandemic bringing in new unforeseen challenges in content production, Sindhe says, “To a large extent, we are able to produce fiction shows and anchor-based non-fiction shows, with least compromise on content. The biggest challenge we are facing is in big non-fiction shows and events, as it needs huge manpower. Hence, we have not launched any big scale non-fiction show as of now. We shall do the same once the situation eases.”

Standing Apart in the Competitive Kannada GEC space

The Kannada C&S space is highly competitive, be it the news channels or the GEC space with all the major national players - Star, Zee, Viacom18 & Sun fighting for the eyeballs. In this environment, AllTime faces an uphill task. However, Sindhe is confident about his team and explains that the team behind this channel have been working in the Kannada television industry for a long time and in course of their professional journey have been instrumental for some of the iconic content that has played on Kannada television. He says, “There is a deep understanding of the audience for over a decade. Hence, all this expertise will help us design a content format that is differentiated but still relevant to this audience.”

The Distribution Challenge

A big challenge for the stand-alone channel is distribution. Explains Sindhe, “As a standalone channel without the backing of big network, we face a challenge in every step right from content creation, marketing, distribution to sales. However, our highly motivated and experienced team is mitigating every challenge effectively.”
He continues, “Being a FTA channel with good mix of fiction, non-fiction and blockbuster movies, we don’t foresee any challenge in distribution. Further, we are the only FTA GEC channel in the market, hence we expect good response both from viewers and MSOs.”

Looking ahead, Shinde says the channel is in the process of creating different and better content in all genres, especially in fiction. The content team is also working on various novels to bring back content driven shows in Kannada television. He says, “As a company, we want to emerge as a best content provider in the market and want every Kannadigas to love our content & channel.”
On a final note he says, “We reach around 12 million Kannadigas every week. With the change in content mix and distribution strategy, we are targeting to double our reach by next quarter.”