MUMBAI: It was applauded for its unique launch in 2012 and has been working hard at making a mark in the genre that has seven channels competing with each other. We are referring to the second movie channel from the Star India bouquet- Movies OK, which after being at the fourth position in the ratings chart has beaten Zee Cinema to grab the third rank.

The channel launched by premiering seven movies in seven consecutive days has continued with its innovation through ‘Ek Din 4 Premieres’, ‘7 Days 7 Premieres’ and ‘Ek Din Premieres Teen’.  The move has helped the movie channel in getting noticed by not just audiences, but also the industry pundits.

Born as a consistent performer right from its inception, the week 34 of TAM TV ratings saw a new milestone for the channel. According to the data provided by Movies OK, it has been growing consistently and has been successful in narrowing the gap with the top three players. The channel reached out to 66 million viewers in the last two months.

The movie channel is moving closer to competition, in the relatively premium audience set (HSM, CS Male 15+ ABC) and has overtaken Zee Cinema in the week 34, scoring 45 million TVTs as against Zee Cinema’s 44 million TVTs.

Movies OK and Star Gold EVP and general manager Hemal Jhaveri believes that since its inception, the channel has been a consistent performer and the gap between number four and three players was always achievable.

From the category share point of view, both Star Gold and Movies OK from the Star stable command 32 per cent market share.

The channel which started at 60 GRPs, now delivers 82 GRPs and Jhaveri gives credit to its pure movie library. The channel has 1100 titles to its kitty.

Jhaveri is a firm believer of differentiation, innovation and moving on. For him, every other movie channel in the genre is his competitor. “Any eyeball which is not on my channel, is my competitor. Movies OK competes with Star Gold equally as it competes with everyone else.”

The channel walks through a simple strategy to sample audiences on-board. “We play good movies at the right time, communicate properly and rest follows. It is a very simple strategy that is why we have been consistent performers. Randomness gets you nowhere and in fact dilutes the assets,” opines Jhaveri.

The channel which caters to the entire family believes in showcasing movies that can be watched by the whole family. And for this, the channel has gone ahead and refreshed its content library. “We know for a fact that the library content depreciates. So we are really not going out and refreshing content which is depreciating. We have been focused on movies and content which has been working from pure catalogue point of view,” asserts Jhaveri.

The biggest achievement was when it redefined versatility with its very own TV premiere of Bobby Jasoos. Likewise, going forward the channel plans to achieve and create a bank of world television premiers. It can be noted that the network gets maximum world television premiers on its sister channel Star Gold first, which is then showcased on Movies OK.

But Bobby Jasoos was the first one to jump the queue. “In the competitive market, we feel world television premiers are important. We are planning to do something huge in December on the line of world television premiers only,” reasons Jhaveri. 

While the channel mostly appeals to family audiences who like romantic and family dramas; blockbuster and action movies featured in the prime time slot get maximum traction.

The channel uses its own network to market the brand. According to Jhaveri, advertisers’ response towards the channel has also been very encouraging. “A lot of them have been surprised that it toppled a strong brand like Zee Cinema.” The channel has brands like Panteen, Pampers, Vimal Paan Masala and many more on-board.

On the digital front, the official page of Movies OK on Facebook has a strong fan following with 3 lakh likes. On Twitter, Jhaveri feels it needs to get the push as it hardly has around 4,000 followers. “We will make it more engaging on Twitter. It’s very strange to narrow down our initiatives only to Facebook and Twitter. We are planning to launch an app very soon.”

Interestingly, Jhaveri who also heads Star Gold reveals that the premier slate on Star Gold is all set with movies like Kick followed by Singham Returns, Bang Bang, Bombay Velvet and Creature 3D. “Our share degree of planning is done,” concludes Jhaveri.