The current cable digitisation drive in the country has opened the door to new opportunities. New genres are being explored in a market where fragmentation is steadily becoming the norm. Taking the cue, Mahesh Samat, former managing director of Walt Disney India, along with a consortium of private financial investors, last week announced the launch of television channel Epic to be positioned as India’s first ‘segmented’ Hindi entertainment product. As Samat says, the channel will ?celebrate the nation’s heritage by translating the vibrant past into entertainment through the contemporary format?, with programmes set against a historical or mythological backdrop. The channel is currently waiting for regulatory clearances and is slated to be launched in August. The brand also aims to create intellectual property (IPs) and strong characters beyond television. In a conversation with FE Brandwagon’s Anindita Sarkar, Samat, managing director, Epic Television Network, talks about the concept for the channel and his plans for the new product. Edited excerpts.
Could you define the channel concept in terms of content programming and target audience?
Epic is a segmented Hindi entertainment channel that will translate our vibrant past into entertainment, with a modern and contemporary storytelling approach that is set against a historical/mythological backdrop.
Our content philosophy is aimed at presenting a unique, episodic television format with a modern take on history and a fresh look at mythology ? both fiction and narrative non-fiction. Epic will have action, drama, comedy, supernatural and narrative non-fiction content. The stories will be innovative with high production quality and a distinct look and feel that will appeal to both men and women across the country. To give you an example, we have acquired the exclusive rights for Indu Sundaresan?s acclaimed novel The 20th Wife which describes the captivating story of India’s most controversial empresses in the Mughal empire ? Mehrunnisa.
Epic is targeted at general audiences in urban digital households. We want Epic to be part of the basket of channels which audiences in urban India watch. Our core audience set would comprise working professionals, housewives and young adults.
What is the insight behind launching a channel such as Epic?
Internationally, with increasing audience fragmentation, broadcasters are creating and distributing genre-specific content to attract and engage a clearly defined target audience. As a result, television content globally is witnessing a growing wealth of viewing opportunities for consumers, across diverse genres such as comedy, action and crime. In India, with the substantial size and consumption of the Hindi entertainment category, there is an increasing opportunity to create thematic entertainment that would offer more choices for viewers.
Although we have 800-plus TV channels, most of the content is general entertainment. However, growth of digitisation is leading to fragmentation of audiences, thereby creating an opportunity for differentiated and genre specific content. Moreover, the ever-increasing number of digital households is leading to heightened audience expectations and demand for more diverse viewing opportunities. The latest KPMG-Ficci report on media and entertainment industry has also indicated that digitisation is expected to open up more avenues for broadcasters to launch subscription-driven specialty channels in India.
Moreover, during research, we identified a core consumer insight that has formed the genesis of our channel philosophy. The current historical and mythological content largely remains within the confines of traditional entertainment. Our aim is to present the rich elements of our vibrant past in an entertaining manner that would be unique for all. We want mass audiences to connect and relate with our rich history more closely and beyond the traditional way of showcasing the stories.
Could you elaborate on the channel’s investors?
Epic is being launched by Epic Television Networks Pvt Ltd, a new start-up in the media and entertainment sector that is spearheaded by me and supported by a strong management team with experienced television professionals including Ravina Kohli as content head and Aparna Pandey as business head. The company has been funded by a group of financial investors, who would not like to divulge their names at this moment.
Do you eventually plan to align with a large network ?
It sometimes becomes a challenge for large networks to be able to innovate with content, given their existing legacy and perceptions amongst key stakeholders. Therefore, with the development of digitisation in the country, new businesses like us will get more opportunity to explore subscription driven, varied content offerings to bring more choice for the viewers.
With no network backing, what will be your strategy to thrive in the market?
We intend to focus on our content and provide more meaningful entertainment to audiences. This will be one of our key strengths in building more relevance in the Hindi entertainment category. Moreover, we are not here to compete with any existing players, but work within the ecosystem to provide differentiated and more viewing opportunities for the consumers. So we will definitely forge strong distribution and ad sales partnerships with existing players in the industry to bring our vision of creating a brand in television to life.
How do you plan to monetise the channel and generate revenues?
Digitisation has made both streams of revenue possible for broadcasters ? advertising and subscription, providing an opportunity for more genre specific content on Indian television. We intend to focus on both these revenue streams. Epic will be available only amongst digital households in India, which currently comprises approximately 72 million digital households and is expected to grow to 179 million by 2017. Therefore, the opportunity is massive. Epic will be available across all DTH and digital platforms across all major markets in India.
Moreover, since the demographics of our target audience is relevant for mainstream urban television, we believe that a wide variety of products and services across segments could find a direct fit with our channel and content ideology, for advertisements and partnerships. We will also look at international syndication at a later date.
What are the challenges that you faced to launch a channel such as Epic?
In my opinion, there are two key challenges that we face with this new offering in the television space. One is ensuring that the delivery and presentation of content is of the highest standards, with the aim of creating IPs, characters and new heroes against
our rich historic background and in a contemporary storytelling format that is entertaining for all. Therefore, we are in discussions with some of the leading production
houses across the country to craft and present the best
stories in the most entertaining format with a modern and high production quality.
The other challenge is whether the speed and the extent of development of digitisation in the manner in which it is currently being anticipated, which is key to the success of channels such as Epic, will actually materialise.
