In line with international practices, Vijay TV will be the first channel in Tamil Nadu to start provisioning its programmes, own its prime time, decide on programmes, themes, scripts, screen plays, target audience, and even get the advertising organised. Sony and Zee TV are the other Indian channels which presently follow this system.

All along, the southern channels followed the Doordarshan model where the channel stops with allotting slots and assumes no further responsibility other than collecting its fee from the producer. The producer, apart from paying the slot fee to the channel bears the programming costs, works out the profits, arranges for sponsorships and provisions sums for outstandings.

``This left the producer to design only certain type of programmes which were expected togenerate the advertisement revenues, he did not have the freedom to innovate very much,'' said Consultant Programmer Broadcasting Rakesh Sharma.

Quality was also given the miss, as the focus was only on generating adequate revenues. As long as the channel got its money and the programmer got his, the audience were left with little choice but to tune in to whatever was available, Sharma said. There was also a growing trend of non-viewership on account of boredom, particularly among the youth (who are in college or who had just got jobs). This segment was growing the fastest and had to be tapped for televiewing, according to Sharma.

Now Vijay TV is bringing in the concept of partnerships. The channel which is going to cater to the `young at heart' and who talk and think bilingually will ask for specific themes more in tune with its policy so as to acquire a specific brand identity. Some popular programmes will also be replayed which had come out in other channels and which fit into Vijay TV's theme, likeYoung Asia's programmes. The public can get loyal to a brand, or to a producer. In case of the latter when the producer shifts to a different channel, the audience shifts with him. But with brand loyalty to a channel, programmes will be viewed because of certain expectations of quality and focus and this is what Vijay TV is aiming at.

Vijay TV while defraying programming costs will help with production excellence utilising its own team members of qualified professionals and experience of parent company (UTV). The channel will also do the marketing for the programme.

The concept which is new here has found good response and acceptance from the producers who are spared the headache of marketing and can settle down to producing their best instead.

South-based producers like Y G Mahendra while admitting that the channel sometimes was too insistent in making production toe a particular line of thinking, appreciated its efforts at focus and commitment. A number of producers have signed on with thechannel.

There has been a very good response from the advertisement front, according to CEO S D Gurudutt. Vijay TV has planned an expenditure of Rs 33 crore for programming and capital equipment. While the new programmes along with the new logo are to be launched on April 14, the channel is also expecting to notch a revenue of Rs 35 crore for 1999-2000 (Rs 18 crore last year), as result of the new strategy.