Thakur
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away”, says the man who is credited with
bringing KBC and K shows to the Indian
television screens. Sameer Nair, after a hiatus
of three years, is back at doing what he does
best. He has been busy exploring opportunities
in online video, e-commerce, film & television
production, education, hospitality and of
course, helped the newest entrant, AAP, into
Indian politics.
A maverick as many call him goes by the
philosophy – communicate clearly, be polite,
be persuasive, sweat the detail, seize the
moment and create not compete for what is
already created.
As the new group CEO at the country’s biggest
production house, Balaji Telefilms, he will work
closely with Shobha and Ekta Kapoor to take it
to the next level.
Indiantelevision.com’s Meghna Sharma caught
up with him to know about his views on
today’s audiences, their taste, Balaji’s success
in gripping the viewers’ pulse and its future
plans.
Excerpts…
You had the genius to select the content
which caught the pulse of the viewers. How
has that evolved? How do you keep abreast
with the change in taste?
Television is dynamic. When we did ‘KBC’ and
‘Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi’ which went on
air on the same night, quickly followed by
‘Kahani ghar ghar kii’ and ‘Kasauti zindagi kay’,
it used to be half an hour weekly programming
on three main channels – Star Plus, Zee and
Sony. This gave viewers 90 choices to pick
from. At Star our big strategy was to channel
this to daily and changed the whole schedule,
reducing the primetime viewing choice to five.
Which others followed and continues to be
even done today. It was a new concept then
and people liked it. With Imagine, we got
mythology into primetime which can be seen
today as well.
In the last 22 years of Indian television, we
have had a full generation of television –
executive, creatives. When I started of in 1993,
we were the pioneers then, and had only the
legacy of Doordarshan (DD) to look back at
whereas today’s generation has 22 years of
television to study. So, in the last 20 years,
there has been a lot of process especially in
consumer taste because the country has
progressed. Today we have 150 million
television homes, 800 million mobile phones,
internet, disposable income has increased and
content has kept in pace with it because of the
new talent entering the space. For instance,
Colors has had wonderful success, Sab has
created a special niche for itself and done
remarkably well, production houses are doing
well and coming up with shows like ‘24’ and
‘Yudh’. http://www.indiantelevision.com/television/production-house/fiction/we-will-look-for-international-local-collaborations-and-diversifications-sameer-nair-140802
bringing KBC and K shows to the Indian
television screens. Sameer Nair, after a hiatus
of three years, is back at doing what he does
best. He has been busy exploring opportunities
in online video, e-commerce, film & television
production, education, hospitality and of
course, helped the newest entrant, AAP, into
Indian politics.
A maverick as many call him goes by the
philosophy – communicate clearly, be polite,
be persuasive, sweat the detail, seize the
moment and create not compete for what is
already created.
As the new group CEO at the country’s biggest
production house, Balaji Telefilms, he will work
closely with Shobha and Ekta Kapoor to take it
to the next level.
Indiantelevision.com’s Meghna Sharma caught
up with him to know about his views on
today’s audiences, their taste, Balaji’s success
in gripping the viewers’ pulse and its future
plans.
Excerpts…
You had the genius to select the content
which caught the pulse of the viewers. How
has that evolved? How do you keep abreast
with the change in taste?
Television is dynamic. When we did ‘KBC’ and
‘Kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi’ which went on
air on the same night, quickly followed by
‘Kahani ghar ghar kii’ and ‘Kasauti zindagi kay’,
it used to be half an hour weekly programming
on three main channels – Star Plus, Zee and
Sony. This gave viewers 90 choices to pick
from. At Star our big strategy was to channel
this to daily and changed the whole schedule,
reducing the primetime viewing choice to five.
Which others followed and continues to be
even done today. It was a new concept then
and people liked it. With Imagine, we got
mythology into primetime which can be seen
today as well.
In the last 22 years of Indian television, we
have had a full generation of television –
executive, creatives. When I started of in 1993,
we were the pioneers then, and had only the
legacy of Doordarshan (DD) to look back at
whereas today’s generation has 22 years of
television to study. So, in the last 20 years,
there has been a lot of process especially in
consumer taste because the country has
progressed. Today we have 150 million
television homes, 800 million mobile phones,
internet, disposable income has increased and
content has kept in pace with it because of the
new talent entering the space. For instance,
Colors has had wonderful success, Sab has
created a special niche for itself and done
remarkably well, production houses are doing
well and coming up with shows like ‘24’ and
‘Yudh’. http://www.indiantelevision.com/television/production-house/fiction/we-will-look-for-international-local-collaborations-and-diversifications-sameer-nair-140802
