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When at the start of the year the English entertainment team at Viacom18 sat down for a meeting, it was clear that there was room for further growth in the space. While Vh1 and Comedy Central were cruising along well, it was also time for the launch of an English entertainment channel.
“The English entertainment bouquet at Viacom 18 was doing well consistently for a while. Vh1 was at the top of the ladder in its genre while Comedy Central was doing consistently well. But there was room to do so much more in the English GEC space, in areas which we hadn’t tapped yet.
The new channel’s challenge has been to attract a larger base. ‘Better Call Saul’, for instance, is a spin-off from ‘Breaking Bad’.
The challenge was not to just to get in viewers who know about ‘Breaking Bad’. It was also to get in viewers who do not know about that show.
It was to introduce new viewers to English content. Since the aim of the channel was to be more mass, it was important that the communication appropriately reflected that. For the launch of Colors Infinity, an exhaustive outdoor campaign across 15 cities was initiated with impactful innovations through print in 12 markets.
High-frequency radio in eight markets, innovations in trade offices, 800 branded cabs and activations in over 100 colleges in six markets were done. In addition, a toll-free number was activated where viewers in trouble could call ‘Better Call Saul’ on 1800 4195 500 for tongue-in-cheek legal solutions to life’s problems from Saul Goodman, the protagonist of the show.
The push does not end here. The channel is in talks for more lifestyle shows across the bouquet, so there is definitely more in the pipeline. .
“Since its launch, Comedy Central has been expressive and tongue-in-cheek while being irreverent and conversational. Now was the time to refresh our positioning to accurately reflect our programming and ideology, which is to be television’s premier destination where people find their #HappyPlace,” explained Palia.
Accordingly, more sub-genres within comedy were introduced. The aim was to go beyond just sitcoms. “Of course, there have been changes in content. We have widened the scope of the genre by introducing new categories of comedy into the line-up, especially a lot of reality-based comedy,” he explained.
The channel looked at bringing in a fresh take on its brand elements and content with this change.
The new look has slick animation and an overall design package. The aim is to be easy on the eyes. Using the circle to signify locations and happy zones, these elements also help to highlight each show..
It’s about the audience and whether they want to be measured or not,” reasoned Palia. Vh1 boosts offerings On 1 January 2015 at midnight, Vh1 celebrated 10 years of being India’s premiere destination for English music and entertainment.
Palia said. Are a lot of shows simulcast on both Vh1 and Colors Infinity? “It has only been ‘Born Stylish’ so far that has been simulcast on both the channels.
In January, though, we are aiming to simulcast ‘The Golden Globes’ across all three of our English entertainment channels – Vh1, Comedy Central and Colors Infinity,” elaborated Palia. Content deals The company has output deals with big studios like NBC, Sony and Warner Bros. In addition, it also has cherry-picked partnerships with studios like Lionsgate, Fox, MGM and Endemol Shine.
How big a challenge is content cost escalation given that a lot of channels want American content? “The challenge is not Herculean as we fortunately share strong relationships with the studios and have managed to build a healthy line-up of great content from around the world,” Palia said. The ad scene For Palia, 2015 has been a much better year.
“It has been a great year, definitely better than the last. In entirety, we’ve grown from a 41 per cent to 50 per cent market share with a 25 per cent growth in advertisers, especially with the launch of Colors Infinity, and we are expecting much more because of it. We are looking forward to an even better year ahead in 2016.”
Viacom18 believes that the English entertainment market has just started growing and there is a lot of empty space in it.
Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/yearender/viacom18s-expansion-in-the-english-entertainment-space-in-2015/ | TelevisionPost.com
“The English entertainment bouquet at Viacom 18 was doing well consistently for a while. Vh1 was at the top of the ladder in its genre while Comedy Central was doing consistently well. But there was room to do so much more in the English GEC space, in areas which we hadn’t tapped yet.
The new channel’s challenge has been to attract a larger base. ‘Better Call Saul’, for instance, is a spin-off from ‘Breaking Bad’.
The challenge was not to just to get in viewers who know about ‘Breaking Bad’. It was also to get in viewers who do not know about that show.
It was to introduce new viewers to English content. Since the aim of the channel was to be more mass, it was important that the communication appropriately reflected that. For the launch of Colors Infinity, an exhaustive outdoor campaign across 15 cities was initiated with impactful innovations through print in 12 markets.
High-frequency radio in eight markets, innovations in trade offices, 800 branded cabs and activations in over 100 colleges in six markets were done. In addition, a toll-free number was activated where viewers in trouble could call ‘Better Call Saul’ on 1800 4195 500 for tongue-in-cheek legal solutions to life’s problems from Saul Goodman, the protagonist of the show.
The push does not end here. The channel is in talks for more lifestyle shows across the bouquet, so there is definitely more in the pipeline. .
“Since its launch, Comedy Central has been expressive and tongue-in-cheek while being irreverent and conversational. Now was the time to refresh our positioning to accurately reflect our programming and ideology, which is to be television’s premier destination where people find their #HappyPlace,” explained Palia.
Accordingly, more sub-genres within comedy were introduced. The aim was to go beyond just sitcoms. “Of course, there have been changes in content. We have widened the scope of the genre by introducing new categories of comedy into the line-up, especially a lot of reality-based comedy,” he explained.
The channel looked at bringing in a fresh take on its brand elements and content with this change.
The new look has slick animation and an overall design package. The aim is to be easy on the eyes. Using the circle to signify locations and happy zones, these elements also help to highlight each show..
It’s about the audience and whether they want to be measured or not,” reasoned Palia. Vh1 boosts offerings On 1 January 2015 at midnight, Vh1 celebrated 10 years of being India’s premiere destination for English music and entertainment.
Palia said. Are a lot of shows simulcast on both Vh1 and Colors Infinity? “It has only been ‘Born Stylish’ so far that has been simulcast on both the channels.
In January, though, we are aiming to simulcast ‘The Golden Globes’ across all three of our English entertainment channels – Vh1, Comedy Central and Colors Infinity,” elaborated Palia. Content deals The company has output deals with big studios like NBC, Sony and Warner Bros. In addition, it also has cherry-picked partnerships with studios like Lionsgate, Fox, MGM and Endemol Shine.
How big a challenge is content cost escalation given that a lot of channels want American content? “The challenge is not Herculean as we fortunately share strong relationships with the studios and have managed to build a healthy line-up of great content from around the world,” Palia said. The ad scene For Palia, 2015 has been a much better year.
“It has been a great year, definitely better than the last. In entirety, we’ve grown from a 41 per cent to 50 per cent market share with a 25 per cent growth in advertisers, especially with the launch of Colors Infinity, and we are expecting much more because of it. We are looking forward to an even better year ahead in 2016.”
Viacom18 believes that the English entertainment market has just started growing and there is a lot of empty space in it.
Read more at: http://www.televisionpost.com/yearender/viacom18s-expansion-in-the-english-entertainment-space-in-2015/ | TelevisionPost.com
