"We can’t afford to go commercial free"

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Contemporary and not classic is the theme for Home Box Office’s (HBO) mother channel’s content internationally and in India. HBO’s homely office in Gurgaon,a New Delhi suburb, flaunts pictures of Tom Cruise and Marlon Brando among others and depending on the generation the visitor belongs to, these actors could fall under the contemporary or the classic genre or both. The movie entertainment channel set its sights on Indian shores back in 2000 and Shruti Bajpai, HBO India’s country manger has been part of the channel ever since. Bajpai, in an interview to FE’s Malvika Chandan, talks about the evolution of HBO India’s content, distribution and advertising strategy.

There were press reports recently about HBO becoming commercial free in India. Is there any truth in these claims?

Absolutely not. It was a case of an over zealous news medium adding two and two and making it 22, a lot of smoke without any fire. Our pay out from subscriptions are very low and in India. We simply cannot sustain on such a model. Take the conditional access system (CAS) model, for example. Recently a friend who lives in south Delhi’s RK Puram, and subscribes through CAS, said she pays about Rs 5 for every add on. So, if she gets 20 channels, she pays Rs 100 per month. On the other hand, if you are a direct to home (DTH) subscriber, and pay Rs 300 to, say, TataSky for 250-300 channels you can imagine the amount which actually filters back to even the higher end channels as subscription revenue.

India, Pakistan and Brazil are similar in this respect and therefore the combined subscription and commercial model are working well.

What is HBO’s USP and how big is its presence in India?

HBO prides itself for its refreshing and innovative on-air packaging. HBO is a TV channel, but we position ourselves as more than a TV channel. We screen quality Hollywood blockbusters and have a good international presence including the US, South America, Asia and Eastern Europe. The company was founded in the US in the mid-seventies and it has grown to 20-plus channels in the US including HBO Family, Hits and Signature. All these channels are bundled with the mother channel and cannot be viewed without a subscription to the mother channel.