Mumbai: Sony Marathi is in its fifth year and has made a place for itself in this market. A few years back the Marathi audience was divided between Hindi and Marathi content but that has changed now. The urban Sec A+B audiences prefer watching Marathi content.
The community is very rich in its literature, theatre, and even music. Music has been big and it's not just film music, it’s also non-film music which has been present since the 60s, 70s, and even in the 50s it was big.
Maharashtrachi HasyaJatra, on Sony Marathi, is a comedy show but it has a lot of literary value to it. It is not a mindless comedy. Mr Bachchan is an ardent fan of the show and has told his grandchildren that if you want to watch Indian (regional) comedy it is Hasya Jatra, which has the true essence of our soil. Our shows are something.
The shows are conceptualised in such a way that we even love rewatching them. That is one of the lenses that we have and that's what has made us stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Indiantelevision.com in a one-on-one chat with Sony Marathi business head Ajay Bhalwankar – spoke on the growth of the channel, their flagship show KBC Marathi and other differentiating content and much more……
On the rise in Marathi channels was it due to the pandemic
No, it has happened much before COVID. The biggest thing that has happened is the shift from watching Hindi channels and daily soaps to Marathi. Earlier, all Marathi channels put together were less than 300 GRP and if you look at the Hindi channels, they use to be around 1400-1500 GRP. There were only seven Hindi channels back then. Now there will be no less than 20 Hindi channels but the GRPs have come down to 800. It is late to launch a channel and to make it grow and it is not happening. I can tell you more channels have shut down. But still, they're hovering around 30-40 GRPs, not more than that. Whereas we're currently sitting at 80-plus GRPs.
On the launch of Sony Marathi five years ago and the challenges faced in most cities in Maharashtra, where Hindi content is also consumed
We’re not just fighting against the Marathi genre, but also Hindi channels. If you look, we’re already on number three, as far as reach is concerned. For a new channel to come in and dislodge established channels and go to number three is because we are probably thriving and we're feeding off the cultural heritage of Maharashtra and that is our USP. Also, we get about 81-83 per cent of audiences from NCCS AB and CCSA. That's where we stand because our content is richer, that's why we are premium. Our advertising revenue is also good because we can cull out the affluent class to the advertiser, who has the purchasing power.
On other content other than reality shows
We have daily soaps starting at 6:30 pm and our last show ends at 11:00 pm. We have about six daily soaps that are a very interesting mix and not the regular ones. At 6:30 we have a mythological show called ‘Gatha Navnathanchi’, which is the first ever show on audiovisual media ever on Navnaths. Navnaths were revolutionary people who wanted to help people and get out of this ritualistic and exploitative side of religion and give the right message to people. So, when we do mythology also it's a different kind of mythology.
Then at 7 pm, we have a story of a female wrestler, ‘Tuj Maj Sapan’. A wrestler girl marries a guy who is also a wrestler, but he's left wrestling out of depression. It is about how both of them come together to build their dreams. At 7: 30, we have a show called Jivachi Hotiya Kahili. Jivachi, is a popular song from Sanyukt Maharashtra. It is a story about the Maharashtra and Karnataka border dispute and a love story.
At 8 - Ashirvad Tujha Ekvira Aai
At 8:30- Chotya bayochi mothi swapna
At 9:00 – Kon Honar Crorepati
At 10- Pratishodh Zunj Astitvachi
At 10: 30- Karan Gunhyala Mafi Nahi
On KBC being an iconic tentpole property for SONY(SET) and evolution of the audience starting from the first season
People watch KBC (Hindi) in Maharashtra and it is one of the key markets. The reason why we are doing it in Marathi is because KBC is in Hindi, the entire world is about Hindi not about Marathi. Language matters to people. Also, the kind of questions that come in are very different from what Hindi will have. Kon Honar Crorepati is Maharashtra-specific. The questions are related to history, mythology, literature, etc which are Maharashtra-centric.
It has grown over the years. So last season, we got about 6,35,000 entries and this season we got 14,85,000. These contestants are called and asked a few random questions, once the right answers come in, they are interviewed, and there’s an exam. The top contestants are interviewed again by a panel of people from Studio Next and the channel brings down the number to around 400. Then there’s another panel which consists of an external person (Bharat Dabholkar) who is not connected with Studio Next or Sony, we watch all the interviews and give marks, there are also marks for personality etc. The cumulative scores are added and 100 people are selected. Out of which only 66 are lucky to get on to the hot seat, the rest are on stand-by.
On Sachin Khedekar as the host
Fantastic! Bachchan Sahab called him and appreciated him for the special gestures he does on the show. All the anchors that do KBC shows around the world have learned from the greatest man (Bachchan) himself.
On doubling the money this year and the other offerings that you’re giving to the winners
Looking at the entire excitement on the show, and the number of people who wanted to participate, I felt that we should be closer to Hindi, which is 7 crores. So there are lots of other smaller things like, everybody gets this huge silver coin from PNG Brothers who are the sponsors of the show. Also, sponsors have more than doubled this year. Last time we had about five-six sponsors. This time we have around 13-14. We have Gemini Oil and other integrations like RBF that come on Kon Honar Crorepati to spread awareness on safe banking.
On the strategies to market the show
All our promos come on, all the network channels like Sony SAB, SET Max, etc. Apart from that we have spent a huge amount of money on various outside network channels like news channels, movie channels, music channels, and everywhere else. We practically had every single print publication on which we circulated the ads.
On the brand integrations
We had spots on the IPL finale on JioCinema. Wherein Sachin Khedekar went there for the final match LIVE, for 40 minutes. We also did a bit of KBC gameplay there with the players. This was done only on the Marathi feed.
On movie promotions on the show
We don’t do movie promotions but we do have celebrities coming in on the show. Sachin Pilgaonkar was there with his daughter, Paresh Rawal, Mahesh Manjrekar and Shivaji Satam, among others were there on the show.
Most channels have now started doing episodes on Sundays, are you also following that now
We don’t do it seven days a week, we do six days and have been doing it since the very beginning. Only on Sunday, sometimes we have ‘Maha episodes’.
On the one differentiator that KBC Marathi offers for its advertisers
Looking at audiences from the NCCS AB, we get a little more premium audiences because Maharashtra is a wealthier state. The other thing is that people can apply through the Lenskart app to come to KHC.
On Sony being perceived as a very urban channel, you haven’t been able to reach inroads into tiers 3 and 4. Today broadband connections, and connected TV happening how have you been able to reach the extra 20 per cent mass
Yes, we are an urban network and when we are talking about Sony Marathi, Maharashtra itself is the most urban state and so we can reach deeper. We are appealing to their sensitivities. So unlike Hindi speaking markets, for us, it is a natural fit to reach out to smaller places because today’s date if you take any state, barring the capital, will not find many more megacities. The reach for Sony Marathi is because we appeal to urban sensitivity. That is why we are number three. We are the only network to have two big formats, Crorepati and Indian Idol. This was the first regional Indian Idol. So that gets us the premium audience which then gets us the premium advertisers. Regional opens up hyperlocal advertising.
On STAR Pravah dominating the Maharashtra market
Yes, they are number one by far. Television, according to me, is kind of a habit and habits don’t break that fast. My understanding on TV is what kind of habit are you generating? If that habit is breakable then it is not great for a television network. But if the habit is very strong, and one cannot get out of it. For example, back in 1994, Kellogg’s head told me in an interview that they were trying to get into the Indian market to break the habit of how you have breakfast. They had a huge issue, so they researched Kellogg's to become part of our breakfast. So at Sony Marathi, what we are looking at is, forming this kind of loyalty to audiences, and if you notice the last six months our heavy viewers are growing. The reason is that we are being consistent in our offering.
STAR Pravah was the leader in 2011 also but why did they go down so drastically? If you look at the number of STAR Pravah six years back, they were nowhere. So that is why Sony Marathi’s motto is Vinuya Atut Nati (Let’s Build Unbreakable Bonds). We are seeing the growth and if you see Sony Marathi’s consistency of growth will be growing 24 per cent per year. So we are building brick by brick.
