Factual entertainment channel Sony BBC Earth will debut in India on March 6, 2017 at 8 pm, with a promise of 19 hours of original content per week. The channel is a JV between BBC Worldwide and Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN). BBC Earth is present in 39 other markets across the globe, but this will be the first time the channel is being launched through a partnership. While SPN will have majority holding of 74% in the JV, BBC Worldwide will hold the remaining 26%. Both companies are said to be investing in the channel as per their shareholding ratios.
Paul Dempsey, president, Global Markets, BBC Worldwide, said, “We have 39 BBC Earth channels already, this will be our fortieth, and we are pleased to be doing this with a partner that has significant expertise in India.” With a brand positioning of ‘Feel Alive’, the channel will feature shows from filmmakers and storytellers like Sir David Attenborough, Steve Backshall, Ben Fogle, Dr Michael Mosley and Gordon Buchanan, amongst others. The content will also be available on SPN’s OTT platform, Sony Liv, over the next few months; whether this will be part of a paywall strategy or free initially, is a decision yet to be taken by the channel.
Saurabh Yagnik, EVP and business head, English Cluster at SPN, told FE, “When we conceptualised the channel, what was important was differentiation. We wanted to create an emotional connect with the viewer and the natural world by leveraging positive, insightful stories. What SPN saw in the category was an opportunity to create distinct predictable viewing choices. “So we have created slots to showcase diversity of the content and bring predictability,” he added. Sony BBC Earth will be available in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and English feeds.
Going ahead, the channel will also look at local programming, a strategy increasingly being followed by other players like Discovery in the genre to increase reach. Although the channel is tight-lipped on the advertisers on board yet, it is stated to be in talks with auto, FMCG and mobile brands.
NP Singh, CEO, SPN added, “Whenever a new entrant comes into the genre, the market also grows with it and for the last several years, the factual entertainment genre has been the most stable in terms of viewership. A little shake up was required and therefore, Sony BBC Earth.”
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With the viewership share of the entire infotainment genre being only 1.1%, industry experts feel that when a new player comes in with something differentiated it leads to better sampling and hence better consumption of the category.
“Millennials today are exposed to a wide variety of content, therefore there is increasing interest in genres like food, travel etc,” said Anand Chakravarthy, managing partner at Maxus. “BBC has been a strong producer of content, and it will be key to see how relevant the content is to Indian audiences. It will generate advertiser interest as there are enough premium brands advertising on television now.” The channel has inked distribution deals with all major MSOs and DTH companies in India and will specifically target mega cities and cities with population over ten lakh.
