With the television industry growing at a blistering pace and over 500 channels to choose from, there?s a steady demand for content. There are several content creation companies which have made a name for themselves in the key Hindi general entertainment category (GEC) space, the biggest pie of the TV network with the highest ad revenue. Think Balaji, Optimystix, Big Productions, Endemol, Miditech and so forth. Joining the list is Cell 18, which has ventured into long content (serials), targeting the regional GEC space, which is growing very fast. Zubin Driver, group creative director, Network 18 Group & CEO, Cell 18, tells FE he will get into the Hindi GEC space next year via regional TV. Excerpts from an interview:

Content creators first target Hindi GEC and then reach out to the regions. Why are you doing the opposite?

The Hindi GEC space is extremely crowded. We are already in discussions with several channels to get into the space next year, but for now we are concentrating on the regional space, which is growing fast. We have had great success with our Marathi shows. In fact, we are recently on air with two Marathi shows, Ya Valnavaar on ETV Marathi and Bhandya Saukhya Bhare on Star Pravah. We are also preparing to launch the Marathi version of the Perfect Bachelor on ETV Marathi. The 6.30 pm show on Star Pravah has an average rating of 2.7 when the usual rating for that slot is below 1. We are bullish about the regional space.

How do you create content for regional TV? What?s the difference with the Hindi GECs?

The same audience is watching Hindi and Marathi or Bengali or Punjabi shows. We have to be conscious of the quality of the show. On that there can be no compromise. But the costs are, of course, less in creating a show for regional TV. We want to leverage the learning we have gained in regional TV on other languages. We have started exploring options in Bengali and Telugu. Creating content for TV, Hindi or regional, means continuous engagement. The fiction shows have one to two year cycles, which means a long gestation period and even during implementation it has to be nudged at all points.

Is the business sustainable?

At whatever level of the pie you intervene at, you have to be sticky, which means your show will have to connect with the audience, and you have to be viable to be able to make the next show. The Hindi GEC space has many players, it made business sense for us to enter regional first before targeting Hindi.

What are the types of content the audience is watching now?

The expectation from the audience is huge. Whoever is able to give variety and is fresh will do well. There is no place for me-too shows on TV. If you are the third best fiction show you will suffer, you must be the first mover in whatever category you are in. The bottomline is you must re-invent yourself every two to three years.

Is talent an issue in the regional space?

We have a lot of demand for quality people in the regional space. People who have grown up in the regional space want to migrate to Bollywood or Hindi television because they pay more. But now the regional space, too, is growing and willing to pay more to nurture talent. Broadcasters are willing to take bigger risks.

But in the regional space, is there space for many players? Is a consolidation on the cards?

Yes, the consolidation process is already on. If you look at Marathi TV, there are only three top players in the fray, the others have moved out. In the regions, there is space for two to three players at the most, because it is not a large pie on offer in the first place. In the regional space there is low level of capital investment, we have to have a tight control on the wage bill and fit it to revenues.

What are your plans for the next two years?

We want to be in the Hindi GEC space next year and other languages in the regional space. We want to grow our ad film business and also our mobile content.