AXN’s big content push

[SarfaRaZ]

MUMBAI: English GEC AXN is looking to take its content initiative ‘Fresh from the US’ to the next level.

As part of the big push, ‘Fresh from the US’, a weekend property which airs episodes of shows close to their US airing, will have four shows kicked off this weekend. ‘Bull’, ‘MacGyver’, ‘Supernatural’ and ‘Elementary’ will air in the 10 pm and 11 pm slots. While the first two shows are brand new, the other two are new seasons of returning shows.

“Four of the shows are being replaced at once. We do not usually replace so many shows ‘Fresh from the US’ at one go. But if all the shows are new or returning, then optimisation does not happen. The aim is to leverage the older shows to get the new shows sampled, and at the same time have a mix of new and old shows working,” Sony Pictures Networks India EVP, business head English entertainment cluster Saurabh Yagnik told TelevisionPost.com.

The focus of ‘Fresh from the US’ is on dramas. The initiative targets influencers while the weekday shows target the adopters. The influencers are much more evolved and like to view content day and date to the US.

The adopters are also getting familiar with the English space. For them it is about how they can experience the category, and to this end they leverage information from the influencers. AXN’s focus is on catering to both audience sets.

Yagnik said that the aim is to have an optimal mix of new and returning shows. Through optimisation the broadcaster hopes to leverage the popularity of the returning shows to get viewers to sample the new ones.

That is why new seasons of familiar shows—’Supernatural’ and ‘Elementary’—air respectively on Saturday and Sunday at 10 pm, while the new shows ‘MacGyver’ and ‘Bull’ follow them at 11 pm. The aim is to also reduce the level of complexity for a viewer to remember what show is coming on a channel. Therefore, the aim of the weekend is to build on the slot promise rather than on an individual show.

Individual shows might be new and so they need to be established. “Certain shows are popular and have returning seasons coming, and certain shows are new. It is a balanced mix so that people are very clear about what to expect from that slot.

The broadcaster groups shows into three levels—P1, P2 and P3. The grounds for classification include familiarity and the star cast. So shows like ‘Sherlock’, ‘The Voice’ and ‘Fear Factor’ belong to the P1 tier. Often a new show will belong to P3 but moves up as seasons air and viewers become more familiar.

The USP of AXN is content diversity, Yagnik said. That is what the tagline ‘Live R.E.D.’, which was adopted in January, aims to convey—Reality Entertainment Drama.

“We have done a couple of consumer dipsticks to figure out how the refresh has been received. The sharpness with which we have positioned the channel and what people are expecting from us have come up very well. People have understood that we are a destination for reality, entertainment and drama.”

Yagnik attributes AXN’s success to addressing consumers’ needs in a consistent manner. So on weekdays 8 pm is entertainment, 9 pm is reality and 10–11 pm is drama. The aim is to populate content diversity and distinct slot promises.

According to Yagnik, advertiser feedback has been positive. Now the aim is to keep building on things. The refresh of a brand takes time to be established, and AXN’s aim is to consolidate on what has been achieved.

For marketing, social media is vital. The channel also looks to hang out in the right places, which is why it has a tie-up with Comic Con India.

AXN’s big content push | TelevisionPost.com