As the television landscape gets more crowded with new entrants, the challenge for existing players is to keep innovating. HBO, which has bought out the stakes of its partners in the Asia venture except Paramount, still has exclusive licensing arrangements with Sony, Universal, Warner Bros and Paramount/DreamWorks.
Late last year, the English movie channel launched an anchor slot HBO Wicked Hour. The focus in this slot is on action, thrillers, suspense, sci-Fi and critically acclaimed movies for the late night male viewers. This is part of the channel's strategy to create new programming blocks to cater to specific TGs.
In an interview with Indiantelevision.com's Ashwin Pinto, HBO South Asia country manager Shruti Bajpai talks about the challenges that confront English movie channels and the pressure to focus on content and branding.
Excerpts:
Why did HBO buy out its partners in the Asia venture except for Paramount? |
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Does the channel now have to bid for new titles coming from its former partners? We have exclusive licensing arrangements with Sony, Universal, Warner Bros and Paramount/ DreamWorks. This arrangement continues uninterrupted. This is the reason why we have such a strong inventory. |
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What are the challenges that are going to confront the English movie genre over the next few years? I am of the firm opinion that channels with compelling and consistently 'winning' content will continue to flourish while the others will just about manage to survive at the periphery. Hollywood movies are beginning to grab a bigger chunk of India's huge movie market, traditionally dominated by Bollywood. A larger Indian audience than ever before is viewing the Hollywood movies and the appetite for such content seems to be increasing. Breaking through the clutter and being able to hold on to the attention of the audience, which is usually short due to the ample choices available, will be a rising phenomena in this category. |
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How has HBO fine tuned its programming strategy? HBO has been following the mantra of 'Big, New, Most' for Indian viewers. We have always devised innovative and topical themes around our movies, instead of fitting it in a "genre for each day" bracket. We do not believe in doing automatic repeats the morning after, like other channels. |
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Has HBO spruced up the content this year because of new competition? In addition, we also air critically acclaimed movies and blockbusters that anchor the Saturday primetime slot at 9 pm. These have included Munich, World Trade Centre, Memoirs Of a Geisha, Blood Diamond. Upcoming titles include Spiderman 3, Surf's Up and The Pursuit Of Happyness. What is also important is our focus on entertaining themes. These are conceptualised for the channel every month. They target different TGs and advertisers. Some examples of these are HBO Animation Fest, Mad About Diamonds, Fast Cars and Gorgeous Babes, HBO Earth Day. Also playing a role are tentpole events. We did a Hollywood's Best initiative which featured Oscar nominated/winning movies, HBO is Summer during May and June, which featured Summer of 60 Nights. Here, a blockbuster movie was shown every night. Moreover there were also mini-stunts under the HBO is summer umbrella like Entrapment, Martial Arts Specialists 'Codename: SuperKids etc. All these have resounded with our target audience. To add to this, we have looked to raise the bar when it comes to quality programming with original series like Entourage, the third season of which has just begun on the channel and themes like HBO- Movies with a difference that showcases movies that make us sit and think. |
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Have new programming blocks been created to cater to different TGs? Right now, we are focussed on building this slot and also other key slots like It's a Guy Thing, Midday Matinee, Family Sunday etc. We are always on the lookout for creating new programming blocks to cater to specific TGs. |
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As the audience gets more fragmented in the metros, the challenge for English movie channels is to reach out to the smaller cities as well. How is HBO targeting these viewers who are aspirational? The increase in multiplexes in smaller towns and the increase in global travel by Indians from all across the country have added to the familiarity with Hollywood movies and shows. HBO is a global brand and this helps in the affinity towards the channel. |
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How has the channel fared on the ad sales front? |
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Has perception among clients about this genre improved? Also, English movies is a genre that our ad clients consume on a regular basis. |
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What are the kind of packages you offer clients that go beyond the 30-second spot? |
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Channels have started advertising on rival bouquets. Does HBO accept ads from other channels that are not part of Zee Turner or is there a conflict of interest? |
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Is HBO looking to boost its content around news shows to add variety to filmed content? The third season of the show Entourage just premiered in late June and we have Big Love coming soon. Also, the recently-aired two part mini-series in the US, The Andromeda Strain, which is based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, is going to be on our channel soon. |
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Does HBO do a lot of marketing and promotional activities to create awareness? We have a well planned strategy for the rest of the year, especially during the festive season of October-December. As we speak, we are running a multimedia campaign that includes a contest, to promote Spiderman 3. |
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The hope is that addressability will get a push this year with DTH (direct-tohome) seeing new launches this year. How do you see the distribution scenario evolving? DTH is also growing, but the format is still the classic 'one price for all channels' rather than specialised packages and introduction of new tiers. This is expected to change as the market matures. |