"The reality formats are the easiest to copy"

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Gold the most preferred investment

: Ve, a rage among the target group of four-to-14-year-old girls. Then there is the spoken English show. Some in India speak a smattering of English, some don’t speak at all, but they all aspire to. These shows have done decently in terms of TVRs.

The ‘self improvement’ format is about picking up a new skill for which there is demand. Cookery shows have fulfilled the same need for ages.

Internationally, subscription-based revenue accounts for a substantial share of a broadcaster’s earnings, but in India it is almost inconsequential. Do you see this changing?

Internationally, subscription revenue accounts for up to 60%, but in India, for a new channel, it is almost nil. As we proceed towards digitisation, it will gradually become a formidable source of income. All channels have built that source in their business plan.

For now, we have around five million digital homes in the country, DTH (direct to home) and CAS (conditional access system) homes combined. With Reliance and Bharti set to launch their DTH ventures soon, we hope the addressability of homes is at a cusp from where things will now take off. Once that happens at a full scale, the business model will change. It will also transform TV viewing habits. Right now the viewers are imprisoned in the broadcaster’s schedule through analogue TV. As one moves to digital, the viewer will reserve the right to arrange one’s life according to one’s own convenience.

At one level it could prove demanding for the broadcasters, who would be pushed to create programmes of superior quality, to advertise them and monetise them properly. But to match the international standards in terms of subscription revenue, it will take us a minimum of five to six years.

How will a subscription model work in India?

It might essentially work in two ways. The smaller niche channel may become subscription driven in terms of revenues. In India, the English channels may fall in that category. These are likely to have higher subscription for lower bases. GECs are most likely to be ad-driven and consequently ratings supported.

Ad revenue will always follow eyeballs as advertisers are looking for a large catchment area for viewers, which can only be delivered by a mass channel. The Indian case study will emerge as a mutation between the two.

At STAR, you bought international formats such as Kaun Banega Crorepati. Are you planning to do something similar for Imagine as well?