Star, a 100% ownership of Rupert Murdoch?s News Corp, pioneered satellite TV invasion in Asia and catalysed explosive growth in the media landscape across the region. Providing viewers and advertisers with more choice than they could handle, it led to an increasingly fragmented industry, where besides setting new standards of content, production value and variety; Star has come to control over 20,000 hours of programming in India and China. According to media research agency TAM, Star TV is a market leader in terms of gross rating points (GRP) that is a measure of the number of viewers watching a particular show, trailed closely by Colors, Zee TV and Sony Entertainment. In an interview to FE?s Radhika Sachdev, Anupam Vasudev, executive vice-president, marketing and communications for Star India, provides a rationale for Star?s current programming and the Indian viewers? obsession with family-oriented soaps.

Reality shows are a rage these days, then why did STAR have to pull Saach Ka Saamna off air? Is it because a section of the more conservative viewers felt that the show was a little ahead of its time?

Sach Ka Saamna was signed for a period of 50 episodes. Since the contract is coming to an end, it is going off air. As far as being ahead of time is concerned, the ratings don?t indicate that it was. About 65% of the Hindi speaking market (HSM) audiences were regular viewers of Sach Ka Saamna and it generated strong ratings, making the show a leader in its timeslot. Before we introduced the show, we did conduct extensive research before concluding that a large number of people actually liked the concept.

However, India is a free society and there is a section that did not appreciate the format but this kind of a fate would apply to any television programme and not restricted to Sach Ka Saamna, alone. We received over 45,000 requests from people who were keen to let the show go on. Apart from launching a very interesting format, which was successful in many parts of the world, the show reflected on the founding principle of our country??Satyamev Jayate?, which means ?Truth alone triumphs?.

Real TV, a 50:50 venture between Miditech and Turner, has begun to scale down. What does this indicate for the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) space?that it is reaching a saturation point?

I would not like to comment on Real TV, but what we believe is that Hindi GEC space still has a lot of potential to grow. The Indian per capita consumption of TV in terms of hours is still much lower than global numbers and so far only 43% of India watches cable and satellite channels today. This indicates an opportunity for the market to grow in terms of both the number of hours per viewer as well the number of viewers.

You are neck and neck with Colors at the moment. They claim their programming is different from the run-of-the-mill, although critics hardly find a difference between all Hindi GEC. Your comment?

STAR as a brand is well ahead of Colors. One of our channels, STAR Plus, is neck to neck with Colors. Indeed, the STAR Network has an all India leadership with a portfolio of 20 channels. In the HSM space, we currently have four GEC brands?Plus, One and regional brands?Pravah and Jalsha. We became leaders in Bengal with Jalsha by a huge margin within a year of its launch and a strong No 2 contender in Maharashtra within nine months of launch. In the Hindi GEC space, we have STAR One and STAR Plus that are strong players in their respective segments.

We believe that in order to maintain leadership, you need to continue to innovate and provide content that is well-differentiated but not alienating to your viewers. We have experimented successfully with new shows such as Aap Ki Kachehri, Sach Ka Samna as well as Perfect Bride in the non fiction genre. In fiction, we have shows that are full of optimism and paint a realistic picture. For instance, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, the No 1 show on Hindi GEC was launched in January, is based on an Indian concept of love after marriage.

You also present ?ethnicity? in soaps?

Yes, and we have also expanded on that portfolio. While in 2007, most shows in Hindi GEC were set in either a Gujarat or a Rajasthani ethos (Kyunki? and Baa Bahoo Baby) we are now covering the length and breadth of the Hindi heartland Bidaai (UP), Yeh Rishta… (Rajasthan), Sabki Laadli Bebo (Punjab), Humari Devrani (Gujarat).

The ?Undivided Hindu Family? is a recurring motif.

You are right. But even there we have moved from family problems to focus more on family. Plus, topics that are related to society. Therefore, although the family continues to remain pivotal to all the shows in Hindi GEC space, we are not dealing not just with family problems but also other serious family issues, such as casteism (Mitwa Phool Kamal Ke on STAR Plus) and discrimination based on skin complexion (Bidaai?the second leading show on Hindi GEC, to cite just two instances. Indeed, Aap Ki Kachehri on STAR Plus, is one such clutter breaking, innovative concept?an attempt to making television an agent of change.

The Pitch-Madison mid-term Media Advertising Outlook for 2009 indicates a 19% drop for the electronic medium. What?s the way forward?

We genuinely believe that India, as a nation, is not in a recession. The GDP growths are still buoyant and we are confident that the media industry will grow faster than the GDP growth.

The Rs 52-crore advertising deal that you struck with HUL was a coup that must have come as an adrenaline shot at this point in time. However, did it upset other advertisers?

With this innovative deal, we are attempting to draw the strength of the network that isn?t averse to integrating branding with programming. The idea is to make the STAR Network a platform for our clients? promotional activities. We help the brand to reach to more than 100 million viewers throughout the day.

STAR?s projection for electronic medium in 2010.

The Indian market has continued to grow in these last few years and we, at STAR, trust that the worst is over and 2010 will certainly be better than 2009. The electronic medium is much more convenient in terms of reach and deliverance. Considering the potential and power that the medium holds in this democratic country, we are optimistic about the industry.