The latest entrant in the general entertainment genre, &TV, from the house of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) got off to a flying start
last month. The channel, launched on March 2, garnered 90.6 million GVTs (gross viewership in thousands) in its first week; the highest compared to what other new channels in the Hindi GEC space have achieved in their launch week. &TV has a contemporary, new-age look with a strong male POV, as reflected in its programme line-up. At the launch of the channel, Punit Goenka, MD and CEO, ZEEL, had gone on record to say that the channel would break even in three years.

FE Brandwagon’s Meghna Sharma caught up with Rajesh Iyer, business head, & TV, and the man behind the channel’s successful launch. Iyer, who was earlier with GEC Colors and had joined ZEEL last year as business head—new initiatives in Hindi broadcast, says the channel aims to stand out with its contemporary and progressive shows. “We have an extremely strong content line-up that gives us the confidence of being able to stay for the long haul,” he says. In this interview, Iyer talks about the channel’s brand image, its marketing strategy, and how it plans to stay at the top. Edited excerpts:

&TV has had a great opening. Would you attribute these ratings to the channel’s programme line-up?

We are a content machine and are driven to build a full content play with the best of programming for viewers with different tastes and preferences. Our only hope is to be accepted by Indian viewers. We have an extremely strong content line-up that gives us the confidence of being able to stay for the long haul. We are ready for the marathon.

You will see an array of new contemporary as well as progressive shows —fiction as well as non-fiction—along with movies which fall under our philosophy—Jashn Jeene Ka. Of course, we cannot be different from the market, but our approach will be to stand out, especially since even today India is largely a single-TV household.

Isn’t the channel banking too much on Shah Rukh Khan’s India Poochega Sabse Shaana Kaun?

Yes, we have and why not? Shah Rukh Khan has proved time and again to be the most bankable star. The entire nation relates to him and this results in an instant connect with the masses other than familiarity to the platform. But we are equally confident about our other shows.

You have shows such as Razia Sultan, Gangaa and Begusarai— each very different. How did you zero in on these storylines?

Variety has been the fundamental premise from where we started developing the concepts that came in. Having said that, the slant which we wanted to take was more progressive and contemporary. And this will be seen in every show, whether it’s a historical drama like Razia Sultan, a story based in an orthodox small town as in Gangaa, or the quaint quirky story of Begusarai where bullets and battles make the decisions. Hence, the selection of the production houses was on the basis of who could deliver content that is closest to the brand.

Are you satisfied with your marketing strategy?

Yes, this was by far one of the biggest marketing campaigns in the GEC space. The brief was to reach every TV household and every viewer, and with our strategic planning we have been able to achieve that. We used all the mediums to target the Hindi speaking market. On our launch day, we advertised in 180 newspapers— national dailies as well as regional papers. We had put up hoardings across 80 cities, while we tied up with 70 radio stations. We showcased our brand films in over 1000 screens in the country. And as for television, we advertised in 75 channels and used the World Cup to our advantage.

&TV has created a benchmark through a tie-up with the world’s biggest and popular trivia game app —QuizUp. This partnership has enabled us to gauge our brand consumption and extend the format experience on a digital platform.

How has the response from advertisers been?

All our shows have “presenting” or “powered by” or “associate sponsors”. We have HUL’s Rin, DHLF, Ghadi detergent, Vicco, Quickheal and many others already on board.