When Zee Telefilms director Punit Goenka was appointed Zee TV business head in September this year, the industry by and large considered it a conscious decision taken by Subhash Chandra to groom his elder son as the successor to the country's largest vertically integrated media company. For the flagship channel Zee TV, getting a new head while going through a crucial phase mattered a lot. Programming-wise, Zee TV had resorted to a lot of experiments and on the marketing and ad-sales front also, there had been some important shifts.
When Indiantelevision.com's Sibabrata Das and Bijoy A K met Goenka on a relaxed Saturday at the Zee Telefilms headquarters in Mumbai's upmarket Worli suburb, the mood was upbeat. Speaking for the first time to the media after taking charge as Zee TV business head, Goenka sounded confident about Zee's plans for 2006. He put the new game plan in perspective when he said the company has stopped subscribing to knee-jerk reactions and any plan put in place will be backed to the hilt and not abandoned mid-way.
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How do you look at your new role as the business head of Zee TV? Can we expect any major shifts in the way the channel has been functioning? You can expect one change. We want a planned execution of what we do. We won't resort to any knee-jerk reactions. |
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So that means, you haven't been executing your strategies in a planned manner? |
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Can you give us any examples? |
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Can we consider your appointment as the head of Zee Network's flagship channel a conscious move to establish a family hand on top? |
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Zee TV tried to change its positioning this year by adopting a new brand strategy as well as targeting younger audiences? Did it meet the purpose? |
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But, the Tam data says it was Star One which capitalised on Star Plus' loss. |
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Zee had brought some major changes this year in its ad sales functioning. How was the 2005 experience in terms of return on investments? Which are the new avenues you are targeting to expand ad revenues? |
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This year saw an increase in programming investments for Zee TV. We are told that it is as high as 25 per cent. How much exactly? How has been the RoI so far? How do you rate the growth of the channel in this calendar year? |
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Which are the properties that have stood out in the year for the channel? Which one you would classify as under-performers? The music reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005 has also been throwing up impressive ratings over the last six weeks. In fact, it has doubled its ratings compared to that of its earlier version, which is from 0.78 to 1.7 TVR. We have so far conducted about six on-ground concerts based on the show and these kinds of initiatives have helped us to make people reconnect with Zee. Now we have a new player in Saath Phere which has started delivering. On an average, it has been delivering 1.4 TVR. The opening episode recorded a rating of 3 TVR. Even in its 6:30 pm repeat slot, the ratings are impressive. Speaking about under-performers, I would say, Time Bomb didn't meet expectations. |
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Tell us about your primetime and weekend programming strategies. |
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You recently launched the second season of Hum Paanch in the weekend band. But the initial response has been not so hearty as per the Tam numbers. Isn't strange to see a Balaji product delivering below average on Zee? |
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But Zee seems to be suffering from the non-stickiness factor. You are yet to create a tent pole product around which other shows can be strategically positioned. If the game show 'Kam Ya Zyaada works out well, definitely it will benefit our other prime time shows also. We are very confident about the show. |
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The gameshow Kam Ya Zyaada explores the mobile-based interactivity factor. Which are the other initiatives being planned to explore this segment? |
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This year, you had announced Business Baazigar and had even promoted the product with some below-the-line and On Air Promo (OAP) campaigns. What is the story behind the Business Baazigar delay? The first season of Business Baazigar will be packed with 20 episodes. It could be a weekly or a bi-weekly. |
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But if your present shows start delivering, would it create a situation of slot unavailability for Business Baazigar? |
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There seems to be a conscious move from Zee now as far as guarding its strategy is concerned. Is this something you have initiated? |
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Then there was a talk of launching the second season of Cine Stars Ki Khoj. Please elaborate. |
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What delayed the film project? |
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When are you launching the telefilms block? |
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Which are Zee TV's latest initiatives on research? |
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Tell us about your efforts on the technology front. |
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Please explain your plans for 2006. What will be the key focus areas? Where do you expect the growth to come from? As I said earlier, Zee TV has the status of a super mall. Hence, we might bring back movies. We will have a select bouquet of movies by the end of this fiscal. However, It won't be a regular feature. That means, we are not looking at movies as a prime property or a revenue-driver feature. Anyway, it is not an overnight job when it comes to turnarounds or investments. Presently, we can say Zee TV is in an investment mode. |
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What is your take on the other network channels? |
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Zee Cinema has been staying away from the trend of telecasting Hollywood movies dubbed in Hindi. Any plan to enter this segment? |
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Agrani Satellite Services Ltd (ASSL) is learnt to be in negotiations with Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for a Ku-band satellite. Are you reviving your satellite plans? |
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How much is the investment planned for the project? |