Sudhanshu Vats joined Viacom 18 in August last year as the Group CEO of Viacom18, the joint venture between homegrown broadcaster Network18 group and global media and entertainment behemoth Viacom. The Indian JV runs channels such as Hindi general entertainment channel Colors, Nick, Sonic and Nick Junior for children, MTV, Comedy Central, VH1 besides producing films through Viacom18 Motion Pictures. Vats?s mandate is to boost Viacom?s media and entertainment interests in India. There is a lot on his plate as of now ? from launching new channels, to managing profitable growth in an extremely competitive environment, dealing with sweeping digital changes and keeping with the new, multi-screen loving Indian consumer. Excerpts from his interview:

What is Viacom18?s current strategy for the Indian market?

There are four thrusts we have in Viacom. Our first thrust is sharper segmentation, which is essentially being able to give content according to individual tastes. As a society progresses, the linkages to the family will always be there in India but we are also moving to a more individualistic society.

Most Indian homes today have multi-screens and 25 per cent urban homes have more than one TV set. Even if you don?t have more than one television, many urban homes have computers, laptops, notebooks, iPads or smartphones. The external factors all point towards smarter segmentation.

What are your other areas of focus?

Apart from sharper segmentation, we want to build eco-systems. There is a lot that we are doing in live, or rather, experiential entertainment. Like live music concerts and awards. It could be comedy (theatre). This is especially true of our kids? channels; we find that kids have a deep relationship with the characters. With Dora: The Explorer, we will have Dora furniture, Dora bedsheets, Dora bed, Dora frocks, Dora toys, etc. The fourth thrust that I am trying to bring in is trying to move media from being a purely gutbased industry to a gut-plusinsight industry. You may get ideas from the gut, but you need to make these powerful ideas through insight. Programmes based on powerful ideas are the ones that stay around longer. Globally Viacom runs a lot of channels ? CMT (country music), Spike (male action), TV land (content for people in their 40s and 50s).

Given that we are moving to 100 per cent addressable systems, which of these

could potentially work in India?

We will be bringing in more of global Viacom channels when we think it?s the right time. It is difficult to say which one, because potentially, any of them could work in the Indian market. We?ve already demonstrated through Nick Junior that in a digitised world, we would be having room for sharply segmented and focused international stuff in the country.

Why did you defer your plan of launching a Hindi movie channel?

In the past, we were not clear on the differentiation factor and on the business case for a new movie channel. That?s why we didn?t launch it. Hindi movies genre is no doubt a huge space. But there are already four-five players operating in the movies space. One must ask some questions before launching a movie channel. Do consumers want to watch movies? Yes, they do. But is there a differentiated proposition in the space? Now, this an important one. In addition, will we have synergies? Will we have enough to build a library? Is there a business case that pays off in a reasonable period of time? In time, if we can answer these questions adequately, we will launch a movie channel. Else we won?t.

How is your movie business working out?

Last year was pretty good. We released about 11 films, and six of those did well. This year?s going well too. We had Inkaar in January followed by Special 26. In March, we have had Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns. The movie business is something I think we are getting our arms around. However, we?ve got to sharpen our business model around the movie business.

Indiacast has recently entered into a joint venture in distribution with Disney. Are these distribution JVs of any relevance, considering everything will be a-la carte in the digital regime?

I expect more consolidation with digitisation. There will be consolidation at the broadcaster level and there will be consolidation at the MSO level. The role of us coming together and offering a bouquet does stay. It allows you to negotiate with a set party on the other side on a given number of channels. While media companies will consolidate, segmentation will happen as far as the consumers are concerned. The choice element will go up.

At any juncture, do you see Viacom going solo in India?

We have a very strong partnership with Network18. I see this partnership remaining for a long, long time.