For one of India’s oldest general entertainment channel, Zee TV, being number one is important. But getting there will not be at the cost of profitability. The channel is betting on its new shows and has lined up a number of fiction and non-fiction shows for the coming three months. FE’s Rahul Sharma caught up with Akash Chawla, head ?marketing, Zee TV & Zee Cinema, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd to get a sense of Zee TV’s game plan at a time when long time rival Star Plus has staged a remarkable comeback. Edited excerpts.
While Zee TV continues to be among the top 3 Hindi GECs, it has not managed to occupy the top slot on a consistent basis. What is your strategy to be ahead of the competition?
If you look at the prime time ratings, i.e. from 7-11pm, we have been number one for a very long time. If you talk about the weekend, which is the non-fiction reality shows, we have been the number one for the last two years, consistently and consecutively. Now, as a channel, would you like to have high GRPs by showing big films which you have to air without any breaks or big celebrity driven shows? We don’t believe in that business model. If you are talking about the kind of leadership which is there as a part of the profitability, we are right on top. That is how we would like to carry forward.
So, does that mean you will not be interested in being the number one channel, GRP wise?
No, we will be very interested in being number one, but we will not like to become number one on the basis of the movies which we buy and which we will have to run break free. We will not want to buy the number one status on the basis of star power by only getting big celebrities on the reality shows. We would like to be a consistent number one. This will come from consistent numbers and growth in fiction. We can definitely improve on what we are doing now. And there are certain slots which we haven’t opened but our competition has. Afternoons, where competition has a big advantage over us, we haven’t even opened those slots. However, Colors afternoon has not worked. But at Star, afternoons definitely give them an advantage. Those are the dynamics you have to understand.
What will be your marketing strategy? What shows have you planned?
Going forward in the next 3 months, you’ll see a huge amount of activity on Zee TV. Mera Naam Karegi Roshan has been just launched. Sanjog Se Bani Sangini is another fiction show of ours, which will be launched very soon. Dance India Dance Grand Finale is coming up. We are coming back with a completely refurbished brand of SaReGaMaPa. We are calling it Singing Superstars. Hero Honda is the sponsor for it.
Apart from that, there are fiction shows that have been lined up. You’ll see a big push towards on ground activation and BTL (below the line) activities, with the consumers. Because, in Mumbai and Delhi, people have access to and see a lot of stars. But the heartlands don’t have that access. We don’t want to restrict ourselves to top 5-6 cities. The split between ATL (above the line) and BTL will be around 70:30.