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AXN promises more local action

AXN (Action TV), the wholly owned action entertainment channel of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is looking to localise some of its content over the next year as the channel prepares to widen its base from the present 10 million households in India.

Without putting a date on when the localisation drive will begin, James Buklarewicz, CEO, AXN said that the channel was actively considering Hindi dubs of some of its shows on the afternoon time-bands.

A year on since its launch in October 1998, the channel has attracted advertising and sponsorship through several brands including prominent frozen food and soft drink brands. Although the channel was attracting a fair share of advertising, Buklarewicz said that the channel would take another three years to break even. Without divulging figures he said, “We are further along the path both in terms of distribution and revenues than we had anticipated.”

Over the next year the channel will concentrate on “increased ground-level activity, increased localisation, even some production, besides expanding its distribution”, Buklarewicz said.

“Our channel profile is young, aggressive and sporty, and we will cater to young, the aggressive and the sporty through action features, television serials, action cartoons and sports telecasts,” said Buklarewicz. The channel recently telecast live a series of five one-day cricket matches between India ’A’ and Australia ’A’ from Los Angeles as the first step in fulfilling its profile.

With “participative interactivity” being a buzz word within the channel, Buklarewicz said that viewers could expect more innovative ground-level events in India. The idea, he said, was to change television-viewing from a stand-offish experience to a more “organic” one. The channel’s India content will begin airing soon with Kamal Sidhu’s Planet X. Kamal has been shooting an “unusual travelogue” on India in Goa and other parts of India.

The channel also plans to drive viewership through big action “specials”. While it was a festival of Arnold Schwarzenneger films in October, AXN will air Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo series in November.

SB