A survey conducted by Asia Media Intelligence (AMI) in four Asian markets - Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok - has revealed that sports is the top choice of viewers regardless of where they are watching television. The first-ever out-of-home (OOH) viewing research was commissioned by ESPN -Star Sports among males between 18 and 45 years old. It included analysis of recent peoplemeter data.
"Our OOH study confirms existing peoplemeter research and reflects the studies in the US: sports is an appointment viewing priority - both in and out of the home. The research shows a substantial, captured and passionate audience that cannot be ignored by advertisers, marketers and media planners in their media buying decisions," says ESPN Star Sports senior vice-president advertising & integrated sales Vib Sharma.

The research suggests that there is an approximate three million male OOH viewing audience across the four-city study.

"We‘ve always suspected that sports was driving out-of-home viewing, but have not until now been able to present quantifiable research. This study makes it clear that OOH viewing is gaining ground across Asia - be it in pubs in Hong Kong or coffee shops in Kuala Lumpur, and sports is what they are watching," adds Sharma.

Results show that 82 per cent of all those surveyed watch out-of-home. The spontaneous OOH choice was sports (78 per cent) followed by movies (36 per cent) and news (34 per cent). When aided, the number rose to 89 per cent saying they prefer to watch sports when it comes to out-of-home viewing. That means nine in 10 of those surveyed watch sports out-of-home.

When asked what sports they watched, 97 per cent of respondents said football was their sport of choice. The football respondents said they watched the most was the English Premier League (91 per cent), World Cup (59 per cent), UEFA (45 per cent). When asked who they watch with, top of the list were friends and colleagues in groups of four or more people.

The English Premier League also came out tops in peoplemeter research with EPL matches consistently ranking among the top five. Sports was also seen to reach a comparative weekly cumulative 78 per cent more viewers than all three cable news channels combined (CNN, BBC World and CNBC).

Don?t fiddle too much with a formula that works. Star India and UTV keep these parameters top of the mind in the making of Bhabhi, a daily afternoon soap set to launch on Monday, 18 March.
Bhabhi (brother?s wife), a half hour family drama, replaces Sanskruti, which has completed it?s year-long run, in the 1:30 pm slot and continues in the tradition of the the great Indian soap. The USP of this particular serial appears to be that there are no scheming in-laws plotting each other?s downfall. The twists and turns in the plot are provided by happenstance.

Bhabhi lead actress Neha Mehta

With the launch of Bhabhi, both the main afternoon soaps on Star Plus are UTV productions. And if the serial brings in anywhere close to the kind of ratings that UTV?s other offering Shagun delivers, then all concerned with the project will have more than enough reason to smile.

The serial, which has been mainly shot on sets in Mumbai?s Gemini Studios as well as some outdoor locations, is sceduled to run for a year, UTV creative director Neeraj Naik says.

Consolidate distribution, increase reach and brand visibility through aggressive marketing. That is the target that general entertainment English channel Hallmark has set for itself in India this calendar year.?We will increase brand awareness in the key cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Calcutta through mass media campaigns,? says Laxmi Hariharan, marketing director, Hallmark Asia. A media mix of outdoors, cinema, websites, radio, and print are the off-television promotional activities that are involved.

The channel‘s initiatives are already having an impact and this can be seen in the fact that the cumulative reach of the channel has increased by 60 per cent since January, says Hariharan.

Hariharan says the channel is adopting a two-tier strategy by promoting the mother brand and creating event-specific programmes. Towards this end, Hallmark has earmarked $1.2 million this year for advertising and promotions.
The channel‘s initiatives are already having an impact and this can be seen in the fact that the cumulative reach of the channel has increased by 60 per cent since January, says Hariharan.

Hariharan says the channel is adopting a two-tier strategy by promoting the mother brand and creating event-specific programmes. Towards this end, Hallmark has earmarked $1.2 million this year for advertising and promotions.

On the programming front, the channel has a three point plan that it is confident will deliver the desired results - original series, television movies and Hollywood blockbuster titles.

One unique feature that Hallmark can offer to advertisers thanks to its ownership of 80 per cent of the content that appears on the channel is "virtual product placement", says Maloo. This means that after a particular movie or series has already been shot, the advertiser is offered an option where he can digitally insert his product during relevant scenes. He cited examples of Samsung in Latin America, Visa card in the US and Coke in the Asia Pacific.