Will serving snacks instead of meals stoke the appetite for channel V?

After one year of relaunch, Channel V’s audience reach is ahead of MTV in Mumbai and the South in the 15-24 age group in Sec A and B, but is yet to catch up in Delhi and the north, according to the TAM report. The channel has a 14-16 per cent cumulative reach lead in the one-minute duration over MTV in Mumbai and attracts 40 per cent viewers, said Channel V general manager and head of India Suresh Bala.

Channel V, however, trails by 12 per cent over MTV in Delhi due to distribution problems. “Our focus in the next quarter will be to improve the audience share in the northern region. We have taken care of our carriage problem. We are lining up about 50 different on-ground events all over the region by the year-end. But it is a harder market to get share of due to the launch of a plethora of Hindi entertainment channels,” said Bala.

When Channel V changed its position from a music channel to a youth brand last August, the reach dipped from 33 per cent to 21 per cent in December, 1999. The 25 new half-hour shows did not carry an impact. The channel took a decision to move away from the conventional format of shows to interstitial 3-5 minute programming. The strategy worked and the reach rose to 38.5 per cent.
Said Bala, “We did away with appointment viewing and introduced mini programmes. We don’t intend to serve meals but snacks. Though we started in January, by April-end we had completed the programming grid. “The non-music shows and late night viewing have helped. Said Bala, “While non-music content has been appreciated, the spine of the channel continues to be music.”

Channel V also seems to have made good use of its internet site. “There is a migration of the brand from TV to the Internet. It has helped contemporarise the brand,” said Bala. While 35-40 per cent of the available youth audience are delivered by the music channels, the balance is taken away by the mainstream channels. An aggregate of 60 per cent of the music channel’s audience is through the brand V, claimed Bala.

Has Channel V been able to build brand properties? Bala names V Chat (a convergence show), Job Show, Oye, Face Off (dating game show) and Virtual V as his strong programming properties. “We have Gone India as a niche property. Bheja Fry has a strong future potential,” he said. Has the positioning of Channel V as a youth brand worked? “Music in India is heterogeneous and can’t become the preserve of any channel. Bollywood rides on music. General content channels also depend on music. For a channel, music can be an ingredient but not a recipe. If you are to reach the youth, music won’t suffice,” said Bala.

Channel V will, in the next few months, build shows for appointment viewing, Bala said. The channel, in fact, is doing better in shorter duration viewing. According to Intam figures for the four weeks beginning June 26, the channel’s reach in one-minute viewing for the age group 15-24 years in Sec A and B, is around 30 per cent. The 15-minute duration is lower at around 5 per cent.
Ashish Bhasin, president, Initiative Media, does not believe Channel V has had a runaway success. “The new positioning of the channel and the fresh programming format have worked to some extent. The gap has narrowed and it is an evenly poised battle. But they still have some ground to cover. They have not been able to create a mega success in any show.”

Sibabrata Das

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