MARKETING AGENCIES, NFDC CLASH

For the last few years the marketing of feature films on Doordarshan has become a lucrative business, both for the NFDC and the private marketing agencies like Creative Eye, Multi Channel, Hansa Vision and others. Doordarshan airs two Hindi feature films on DD 1 every week (one on Fridays, another on Saturdays). DD 2 also airs two Hindi feature films on Fridays and Saturdays. Another Hindi film is shown on Delhi LPT channel.

Doordarshan does not do the marketing of these films on its own but gives the markteing rights to the NFDC and other agencies against a minimum guarantee of between Rs 35 lakhs and Rs one crore! DD 1 insists on an MG of Rs 1 crore these days for the Saturday feature film.

“Today if marketing feature films on DD is big business, it is only because of us,” says a marketing executive of a private company. When Dheeraj Kumar’s Creative Eye offered to market N Chandra’s Tezaab for DD, Rathikant Basu (then DG, Doordarshan) was said to have refused. At that time Doordarshan used to generate a revenue of Rs 35 lakhs per film on its main channel. Creative Eye offered DD a MG of Rs 40 lakhs for Tezaab. But Basu was not interested. He relented only when Creative Eye’s D Das (elder brother of Dheeraj Kumar) offered Rs 1 crore as minimum guarantee. Tezaab and Creative Eye took the MG for the Saturday feature film on DD1 to Rs 1 crore. The film broke all previous records for commercial time sold during one film. Many more companies got into the act and offered to pay Rs 1 crore as MG per film. Finding the business so lucrative, NFDC too jumped into the ring. In fact, the man behind NFDC’s active participation was R Basu, who was its chairman as well.

When Akbar Khan’s serial, Akbar The Great, went off the air on DD 1, the slot was given to the NFDC to telecast its feature films. This activated the NFDC. Soon the corporation’s ‘serious involvement’ which led to marketing of feature films as well, began disturbing private marketing agencies who felt that NFDC was monopolising the feature films being telecast on DD.

Last year, one of the agencies appealed to MRTP (monopolistic restrictive trade practises) against NFDC’s so-called monopoly on Doordarshan as well. “Marketing agencies feel that NFDC has a monopoly on DD. This is not true. For acquiring marketing rights of Hindi feature film on DD, we are openly competing with them. It’s is also a fact that the NFDC has done better business for Doordarshan. On an average we have given DD Rs 80 lakhs per film. For 10 films we have given them more than Rs 1 crore per film,” says VK Majotra, chairman of the NFDC.

But marketing agencies do not agree with NFDC’s claims. They say that NFDC is exploiting its position of being a government ogranisation.

Says Prasanna Prabhu, a senior executive with Multi Channel, “Doordarshan has given the NFDC the exclusive marketing rights of Friday feature films on DD 1. It is enough to prove that NFDC is being given special treatment by DD”.

But Majotra does not agree. He says that Prasar Bharati Corporation is an autonomous body and the I&B Ministry (VK Majotra is an additional secretary in the ministry of I&B) does not have any control over Doordarshan now. “How can we influence them?,” he asks, “They are free to discontinue the NFDC’s contract with them but they won’t do that because NFDC has done tremendous business for them”.

He further says that whenever Doordarshan needed a film for any of its channel, NFDC has provided it. “We have marketed films for them at very short notice when almost all private marketing agencies refused to do so. We have done it even by losing money,” says Majotra.

Prabhu says, “We too have marketed films at a short notice. We were asked by DD on a Friday morning to market Karz for them and we enabled them to put the film on air just two days later, on Sunday.” But the main concern of private agencies seems to be the fact that Doordarshan just refuses to restart the once prevalent `open bidding' system for the marketing of feature films on DD 1.

Says Prasanna, “The annual billing for Friday and Saturday films on DD 1 alone is more than 100 crores which is not a small amount. DD should consider bringing transparency to this whole affair”.

Currently the marketing rights of Hindi feature films on DD 1 and DD 2 are given out by DD officials. Says the marketing manager of a company, “We are at the mercy of DD officials. They decide which company will market which film. There is no transparency at all.”

Interestingly, the marketing rights for regional films on regional kendras of Doordarshan are given through ‘open bidding.’ Companies like Hansa Vision, Multichannel and Primetime are actively involved in marketing films for regional kendras. For the Bangalore kendra of Doordarshan, Hansa Vision has been marketing regional films by paying an MG of Rs 26 lakhs per film to DD.

“When DD has been inviting open bidding for its regional kendras, why isn’t it doing so for DD 1 and DD 2?” asks Das. According to the marketing agencies, NFDC does not want DD to restart the practice of open bidding for the Hindi feature films on DD 1 and DD 2 because “they won’t be able to offer as high an MG as we can.” But Majotra thinks otherwise. Says Majotra “The marketing agencies claim that they could pay higher MG than we do. Fine. We are willing to quit if the MG is substantially higher but not if it is a few thousands more.''

NFDC which has exclusive marketing rights of Friday feature films on DD 1 occasionally markets Saturday feature film on DD 1 as well, though the marketing rights for Saturday Hindi feature films are open to all agencies. In addition, the NFDC also markets feature films (both Hindi and English) on DD 2 for which it has exclusive rights.

“The NFDC has virtually monopolised the marketing of feature films on DD. They are marketing 75 per cent films on DD 1 and 100 per cent on DD 2,” says Prasanna. The NFDC officials, however, argue that they have been marketing films on DD International and Movie Club (now closed) and losing crores.

According to the NFDC sources, because of Movie Club, the NFDC used to lose around 6 crores annually. “If you earn Rs 50 crore from DD, you can afford to lose 6-7 crore. There’s no big deal in that,” says an executive from a marketing agency refuting the NFDC’s claim.

But will open bidding for marketing of Hindi feature film on DD1 and DD2 be successful? “Why not? If it can be done successfully on regional kendras, why not on DD 1 and DD 2?” asks Prabhu of Multichannel which has marketed films like Aaj Ka Arjun, Karz, Khoobsoorat, Phool Bane Angarey, Bawarchi and many others.

However, Das says that his company will support the ‘open bidding’ for Hindi feature film only if Doordarshan reviews its minimum guarantee (which is Rs 1 crore for Saturday Hindi feature film on DD 1) and the ‘spot buy’ rates and brings them down. Interestingly, it was Creative Eye which took the MG to Rs 1 crore for Tezaab on DD. But now they are demanding a slashing of the MG!

“When we marketed Tezaab, the average TRPs (IMRB) for a Hindi feature film were 45 and DD used to allow unlimited FCT (free commercial time). Today the average TRPs of Hindi feature film have come down to 36, and the FCT is also limited. Because of bad market conditions, sponsors are not as enthusiastic as they used to be at one point of time,” says Das. He also feels that selling free commercial time has not been easy for a Hindi feature film. He says that though Creative Eye, which marketed Krantiveer on January 26 , did manage to sell all the 1500 seconds of FCT, it won't be possible to do so always. ''

The NFDC, for example, could not sell more than 1200 seconds out of the total 1800 seconds of FCT for Sanam Bewafa. But whatever marketing agencies may claim, the NFDC has the rights of a maximum number of feature films, because it buys about 100 films every year from various producers and is the biggest importer of foreign films.

According to a senior DD official, “If there is any agency that Doordarshan can fall back on in times of crises it is the NFDC. With the biggest library of films in India at its command it's the only agency which can supply a film to DD at short notice,” he says.

Those who criticise NFDC's monopolistic tendencies also say that the corporation is digressing from its primary goal of promoting good cinema in its zeal to market feature films on DD. The chariman of NFDC, however refutes the criticism saying, “The NFDC is still doing its duty of promoting good cinema. But to promote good cinema we need money. Since government support is limited, we generate revenue by marketing feature films and programmes on DD. What is wrong in trying to become self sufficient? Afterall we are not doing anything unconstitutional!”