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Soap
Opera
2008: The year of new markets, new leaders, new challenges... Swapna Rahul Shah  The
year 2008 has been buzzing with activity, and the broadcasting industry
has seen more than most others. Not only with the advent of Indian Premier
League give television a new property to be excited about, but the launch
of Colors, the foray of players in regional markets, either through launching
a channel or partnering with an existing one created a lot of buzz despite
the slowdown. At the same time, many businesses deferred or even shutdown their projects, cost cutting and employees being laid off across all sectors was a gruesome reality. But the broadcasting industry has been braving it so for. Here's taking a look at how some of the key genres performed in the year. Hindi GEC Genre The key development in this genre has to be the standoff between the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) and the producers over remunerations and other working conditions. This fight resulted in the broadcasters taking the extreme step of airing only repeat programming in primetime television. This mayhem was elongated and the repeat telecasting of the programmes affected losses for not only broadcasters but for the genre as a whole. Due to this, GECs dipped significantly in terms. The genres that gained during this period were Hindi movies and the sports channels. Overall in terms of ratings, Star Plus continued as the traditional leader in the genre. Zee TV had to give away its second position to Colors, soon after the launch of the channel. The other players in the genre are Sony Entertainment TV, NDTV Imagine, Star One, Sahara One, 9X, SAB and Zee Next. Of which, both Zee Next and 9X have been showing repeat programming in the year. (Rating calculated on TAM Media Research data for C&S 4+ in Hindi speaking markets) Hindi News Genre This year, the overall C&S data shows three channels competing in the top rung. These are Aaj Tak, India TV and Star News while rest are following. The other players in this genre include Zee News, NDTV India, IBN 7, News 24, Live India, Samay and DD News. Even as Hindi general news channels have quite a few players with at least 10 significant channels targeting a broader market, the business space still sees only two key players - CNBC Awaaz and Zee Business. On the overall ratings, CNBC Awaaz has managed to stay ahead of Zee Business week on week in this year. Some of the action that players saw in the year included IBN7 launching a Hindi news portal, IBNkhabar.com; Zee24 Ghante Chattisgarh was launched in Chattisgarh; NDTV Convergence launched NDTVKhabar.com; Triveni Media laying off 250 plus employees due to current market condition amongst other developments. The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB) issued notices to the news channels like Aaj Tak and India TV for it telecast of the Mumbai terror attack. Thereafter, the News Broadcasting Authority (NBA) agreed to form an 'emergency protocol' to cover crisis situations like the Mumbai attacks or involving any special operation of the armed forces. (Rating calculated on TAM Media Research data for C&S15+ in Hindi speaking markets) English News Genre 2008 was the year when Times Now started creating a further stir in the market. The year saw the top position switch between the otherwise genre leader NDTV 24x7 and Times Now, but towards the end of the year, Times Now has taken a significant lead in its ratings. The coverage of events such as the Anti-trust vote coverage, budget coverage, Delhi elections coverage gave the channel a clear lead over its competitors. (Rating calculated on TAM Media Research data for C&S AB 15+ in 1mn plus & metros) Hindi Movie Genre The mainline Hindi movie channels have had an interesting run in 2008. Even as the Indian Premier League redefined cricket and delivered unexpected numbers for Max, most Hindi movie channels played the old titles game. Many industry observers are looking at newcomer UTV Movies closely. The channel may just turn out to be a game-changer going forward, if its strategy of premiering new movies pays off. The ratings story for the Hindi movie channels is not much different from last year. Zee Cinema and Max battled it out for the top slot every week. Even the advent of IPL did not change Max's fate for it to continue at a steady numero uno position after the series was over. Star Gold, which has stayed with a programming mix where at least the smaller or niche titles have premiered on the channel, is on the No. 3 position in the genre. Filmy and UTV Movies, which move between the fourth and fifth positions, lock horns more fiercely towards the end of the year. There are 12 Hindi movie channels on television at present, but channels like Zee Premier, Zee Classic, Zee Action, Jhankarr Movies, B4U Movies, CVO, and Bindass Movies still have no numbers to show. Interestingly, some of the most viewed movies on the top two leading channels include the likes of 'Koi Mil Gaya' (2003), 'Vivaah' (2006), and South flicks such as 'Chandramukhi' (2005) and 'Don No. 1', amongst others. (Rating calculated on TAM Media Research data for C&S4+ in Hindi speaking markets) Kids' Genre The Indian kids' channel genre is set to witness some action with the introduction of a new entrant, Hindi kids' channel 'Spacetoon TV', which is slated for launch in early 2009. Despite the presence of quite a few established players, media planners believe that there is still room for another kids' channel in the market. In terms of ratings, Cartoon Network and Hungama emerges leaders among kid's channel in the all market and Hindi speaking market respectively. Jetix and Disney Channel have yet not nabbed an adequate market share. The other players in this genre are Nick and Pogo which have been doing well in the genre. (Rating calculated on TAM Media Research data for C&S 4-14 in all India market) Hindi Music Genre Previously MTV was the only leader in the Hindi music genre. The scene completely changed this year and the ratings have their own role to play. The youngest player in the genre - 9X M entered the category hitting leadership spot and managed to acquire the leadership position following MTV. The other players in this genre include B4U Music, Channel V, Zee Music and Music India. (Rating calculated on TAM Media Research data for C&S 15-24 for Hindi speaking markets) Marathi GEC and News Genre The Maharashtra market saw a lot of action to the extent that even TAM Media Research chose Maharashtra to track the ratings of the below class two towns. The market witnessed an intense battle between media conglomerates Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) and STAR India. Two genres that score high with the local audience of this market are news and general entertainment channel. ZEEL was one of the few media houses that already had a presence in both the genres. But now Star India is also not far away. This year saw Star Pravah entering in Marathi GEC genre. As of now, the existing players in the Marathi news genre include Star Majha, Zee 24 Taas and IBN Lokmat, whereas the GECs include Zee Marathi, ETV Marathi, DD Sahyadri, Mi Marathi, and Saam Marathi. Both Zee 24 Taas and Star Majha were launched in 2007. IBN Lokmat joined the two much later in April 2008. According to TAM Media Research data for the target CS 15+ in the Maharashtra market, Star Majha leads among Marathi news channels; Zee 24 Taas follows; and IBN Lokmat takes the last slot. In Marathi GEC genre, Zee Marathi is still leading the channel share in Maharashtra following ETV Marathi, while DD Sahyadri is on third position and Mi Marathi and Saam TV - this year launched GEC, is on fourth and fifth position. Saam TV was launched on August 2008. The twist in the tale in 2008 was the launch of another Marathi GEC channel named Star Pravah. The game is still on, much more to come. Media planners believe that there is still space for new entrants and the Maharashtra market can support and sustain another Marathi GEC. However, they stressed that quality content was the key to the survival and performance of the channels. Maharashtra has been a priority market in any media plan, hence GECs have been giving considerable importance to this market. (Rating calculated on TAM Media Research data for C&S 4+ and C&S 15+ for Marathi GEC and news genre in Marathi speaking markets) |
