FoodFood, one of the three recently launched food specialty channels in India, is completing six months on 24 July. With Sanjeev Kapoor and Astro as promoters and Madhuri Dixit as the lifestyle promoter, the channel took up the challenge of growing a new genre in India.
Indiantelevision.com‘s Gaurav Laghate caught up with FoodFood COO Karthik Lakshminarayan to talk about the plans ahead and the journey so far.
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FoodFood is completing six months of operations. Has it been a bumpy or a smooth ride for a channel that is exploring a new genre in India?
Being a speciality channel in Hindi, our connectivity in the Hindi speaking markets is approximately 60 per cent, which is quite good. Also if you see our reach, we have a 5.7 per cent reach in C&S households, while in the core TG of Female 25+ Sec ABC, our reach is almost 9 per cent. |
Isn‘t the ratings too narrow at this stage?
So, you see, there is no immediate competition. However, having said that, we do feel there is more potential for the genre to grow. But there is no benchmark as such. If you see the US market, the food channels are doing really well, and we see similar potential here also. |
So are you planning to take the channel overseas? |
FoodFood seems to be the only channel in this genre that is spending on distribution. How big is your carriage payout?
The industry is very dynamic and one has to always fight for the right band.
Having said that, we are now entering into the second phase of growth. We will step up our investments in distribution, marketing and content. |
‘We are now entering into the second phase of growth. We will step up our investments in distribution, marketing and content. ‘
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And in content?
Very soon, you will see the launch of our biggest reality show - Maha Challenge which will have both Dixit and Kapoor and their teams of women and men battling it out to answer who is the better cook - men or women. It is a battle of sexes in its true sense. The 13-part series is being produced by Fremantle India. We will launch it in September and you will see Dixit for the first time in this role on television.
We will also launch another reality show Secret Recipes in which people will come with their recipes and will cook with Kapoor. |
How many advertisers do you have on board now?
And all these get integrated seamlessly in the shows that we air. We do not want to clutter our shows with advertisements at this time and we have only 4-5 minute ads in the half-hour slots. |
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