Turner-Miditech's Planned Launch of 'Real' Channel in India:Will it Succeed?

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Turner-Miditech's Planned Launch of 'Real' Channel in India:Will it Succeed?

 

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Getting ‘Real’ in the Cluttered GEC Market – The Challenges Led by Sunil Lulla (Lulla) , director of RGB, the channel is all set to pitch in as a ‘smart, fresh and distinctive’ entertainment channel tailor-made for the young urban, ambitious and outward-looking ‘neo Indians’. In his words, “Our channel is targeted at the neo Indians: the urbane, upwardly mobile and aware consumer of 15 to 34 years who speaks Hindi.”23 He adds, “Real is being really different, with its focus on the ‘urbane’ Indian and not the traditional GEC bastion of women who like to see saas-bahu serials. She might be in Indore, 27 years old, and with a child, but she is not traditional and has a say in her life. We want to offer HER a fresh alternative.”24 Staying clear of saas-bahu serials andmythological shows, Lulla wants it to be clearly differentiated fromestablished as well as new competitors. Promising a distinctive fare for couch potatoes,

he asserts, “How about a channel without any saas-bahu serials” and advises entertainment channels: “get labels, specify if you are for the rural audiences, the masses or the premium consumer.” He further adds, “You don’t have to be a 100-tonne gorilla in the broadcasting business. You can be nifty, interesting and still be in a good position.”²⁵

Positioned as ‘Real People, Real Stories and Real Entertainment’, the channel offers a combination of fiction and reality shows that are meant to be joyful, aspirational and close to reality. The core concept of the channel was welldepicted in its circular green logo epitomising a vibrant feel, friendliness and approachability. The channel has unveiled four shows to be aired from March 2009 – Poker Face, Vicky Ki Taxi, Hindi Hai Hum and Sarkaar Ki Duniya

Along with its distinct positioning, Real would capitalise on Miditech’s media clout and Turner International’s global presence.NikhilAlva, chairman ofAlva Brothers Entertainment says, “Our long, insightful experience and success in developing content for the Indian Viewer provides us an ideal springboard to embark on this venture. Along with Turner, which brings to Real, global best practices in broadcast businesses; we are building a platform for distinctive brands and contemporary content. Together we hope to provide a distinct GEC channel which will be dramatically differentiated, yet relevant and aspiring to Indian viewers.”²⁶

Steve Marcopoto (Marcopoto), president of Turner Broadcasting SystemAsia Pacific, also felt that it is an exciting time to enter the Hindi GEC genre. In his words, “Given the market’s strong growth, extremely young population, penchant for media consumption and improving distribution delivery systems, India is one of our biggest growth opportunities.” He further adds, “Having established many successful Turner brands and ventures in the last 18 years, including our production partnership with Miditech, we’re now excited to take our next step with Alva Brothers Entertainment with the launch of REAL.”²⁷

Anshuman Misra, managing director of Turner International India Pvt. Ltd., also asserts, “Turner International has a history of making smart, successful collaborations that enhance the viewing experience of our discerning Indian audiences and is confident that Real will deliver quality programming to Indian audiences. Turner’s proven understanding and experience in television broadcasting in India will add value to the partnership.”²⁸ Further, Turner’s distribution joint venture in India, Zee Turner, would offer strong distribution support for Real that hopes to begin with 10 million homes.

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23] “Getting Real”, op.cit.
24] Ibid.
25] Bansal Shuchi, “Entertaining encounter”, http://business-standard.com/india/news/entertaining-encounter/03/35/338826/, November 1st 2008
26] “Turner & Miditech’s new GEC Real to launch in March”, op.cit.
27] Eaton Matt, “Turner unveils ‘Real’ Indian venture”, http://marketing-interactive.com/news/10597, January 23rd 2009
28] “Real Global Broadcasting announces the launch of ‘REAL’, A New Hindi Entertainment TV Channel”, http://www.realtelevision.in/pdf/REAL_launch_press_release.pdf, January
21st 2009