Star looking to give FX a major push to take on AXN

[Deepu]

Star India is looking to give its English entertainment channel FX a major push to take on rival AXN. Tailoring the right kind of content, heavy marketing, proper positioning and expanding ad consumption are the measures FX is taking. Speaking to TelevisionPost.com, Star India GM English channels Kevin Vaz said that the channel is looking to double ad inventory which currently stands at three to four minutes an hour. Vaz is also considering high-definition (HD) feed for FX and FoxCrime, which will happen during the current fiscal (July 2014–June 2015) as the channel’s TG is inclined to pay for such an offering. Besides, a marketing campaign for FX is themed around FX as the edge of entertainment. Spots are being run across the Star network, and other vehicles like outdoor are being used. Content investment Eight months back, FX decided to go after AXN and see how it could become the choice of channel for males. Investments in content were made to bring in shows like ‘Prison Break’, ‘The Listener’, ‘The Guardian’, ‘The West Wing’, ‘Fringe’ and ‘X-Files’. “We have 180 episodes of ‘The West Wing’ and 200 episodes of ‘X-Files.’ This is how we have built the channel quarter on quarter,” said Vaz. For Vaz, revenue is a by-product of all these factors. He claimed that FX is the number one channel today in terms of reach in its category. “FX’s weekly reach has practically doubled to 2.3 million, while AXN’s stood at around two million. Over the last six months, FX has a time spent of 24 minutes vis-à-vis a genre average of 20 minutes. In the second phase of digitisation, UP has been a major growth market for us,” he explained. Proper positioning is key FX was launched with the distinct positioning of being edgy, thus targeting males. FoxCrime audiences were given crime and procedural shows. FX, on the other hand, catered to a highly evolved audience with edgy content through shows like ‘The Simpsons’. Star World reached out to the entire family with comedies, shows like ‘Masterchef’, ‘House’ and the latest drama in the night. But even the dramas appeal to the entire family. The unique positioning of FX, Vaz maintained, has helped the channel in not taking away viewership of Star World. “What has been hit is AXN. It is important to launch a channel and play for leadership. That is what we have done with FX.” Some of Star World’s content will never come to FX. Going forward, FX will have big shows like ‘Mad Men’ and ‘Californication’.” The shows on FX are up to the latest season. “We have shows up to the latest season. We have five seasons of ‘The Walking Dead’. ‘The Bridge’ was a show only launched last year. ‘The Americans’ is another new show. ‘Mind Games’ will air,” he said. Local shows, however, will not be a part of FX’s game plan. Drama and comedy remain the genres that are the top rated in the English entertainment space. Vaz stated that some shows travel between Star’s English entertainment channels but not all. “For example, shows like ‘Castle’ and ‘Masterchef’ will never air on FX. Some shows like ‘Downton Abbey’ first come to FX and then may or may not travel elsewhere.” FX has also been careful about the timings of shows. For instance, a show like ‘Californication’ cannot air before 11 pm due to the nature of that show.

Read more at: Star looking to give FX a major push to take on AXN | TelevisionPost.com | TelevisionPost.com

 

[Devesh]

It means we soon see fx hd and fox crime hd.

 

[gappa]

It is english "star utsav" showings all old shows

 

[shawl_who]

Actually the international version of FX is very gud, Indian feed is not that gud.
All gud shows goes to star world.

 

[geekvishal]

When you have three English GECs, it is hard to mange if you don't throw some contents for FX. Star/FIC only concentrates on Star World and Star World Premier HD.

 

[Dinakaran Sankaranarayan]

It sucks man ! All channels buy license to 2 hit series and survive with all other crap throughout the year. As viewer, i feel like being milked by everyone as i had to subscribe to all these channels to watch one or two tv shows. MadMen was coming in Star World Premiere, now they want to move to FX. Then make FX HD and then expect more money from us? Already we are being denied to watch many TV shows like Walking Dead,Prison Break in HD just because they have to make it FX exclusive.

Sometimes this makes me feel why bother subscribing to all these channels and instead of watch all these online.This is pushing the limit. Same thing happens with English movies as well.

Harder these channels try to rip us off, it can backfire big time in the long run.

 

[Anirudha]

This is the old tactics of STAR / FIC they launches 6 Sports channels force Operators to pay for those channels and contents wise they shows same thing in all channels. Latest example is they showed Pro Kabaddi League in all 6 STAR SPORTS channels + STAR GOLD.

So this tactics is also like that only.