MUMBAI: India is seeing a flurry of launches in the action movie genre ahead of digitisation as broadcasters are keen to tap into a niche segment with a particular eye for subscription revenues.

National and regional media conglomerates like UTV, Sun TV Network and Star India either have entered or have plans to foray into the genre.

UTV Action, which airs Hollywood action movies dubbed in Hindi, launched its Telugu feed to dig into the Southern market as it has an affinity for action cinema. Star India has said it plans to launch two action movie channels (English and Hindi). The Hindi channel is expected to have the dubbed content along with Hindi action movies.

Sun TV has recently launched four regional ad free action movie channels - Sun Action in Tamil, Gemini Action in Telugu, Suriyan TV in Kannada, and Surya Action in Malayalam, catering to different segment of audiences.

Will the market support so many launches? Madison Media Group CEO Punitha Arumugam notes that it is good that channels in genres like action and food are getting launched as it will help advertisers do specific targeting.

?The future of Indian television is going to be in niches. The more you are able to offer options which target a certain psychographic of the target audience, the more it is actually going to find appeal,? Arumugam says.

As per her estimates, the size of the action genre is under Rs 500 million. ?Though for action movie channels the yields are low, the cost of acquiring content is also low. I am assuming that for all such channels, action-imported, dubbed stuff is being used,? she adds.

Action movie genre is led mainly by male viewership with preference first for action, then comedy and drama.

The genre has to evolve before it becomes accommodative of so many players. Lodestar UM chief growth officer Habeeb Nizamuddin admits that it is a niche within a niche. ?In terms of percentage, the highest spend by any category on the action movie channel is about 1.5 per cent of their overall spending. There are basically two categories -automobiles and consumer durables -who spend more on this category. Still, out of their overall ad spend, they just use 1.5 per cent for action movie channels,? he says.

The entry of Star into the genre will expand the thin ad market but still it will have to depend on pay-revenue models. But that won?t be an easy task. Says GroupM CEO Vikram Sakhuja, ?There is scope for people paying for exclusive viewing of live sports and good movies. This will become a sizeable opportunity only once digital distribution of C&S reaches critical mass. Having said that, relying 100 per cent on distribution revenues, in a market that has been spoilt on free content, is highly ambitious.?

Adds UTV Action business head Sameer Ganpathy, ?With multiple channels entering the space, the genre will surely stand on its own in the years to come. At present, there is no scope for the pay revenue model for action movie channels. But as India moves towards digitisation, the pay revenue model will become a part of the mainstream model."

MUMBAI: Will World Series Hockey go the Indian Cricket League way? That is a matter of conjecture but if one is to go by Hockey India?s new strategy of launching its own league, one can hardly disagree that the ?official? body is following in the footsteps of its cricket compatriot BCCI in ensuring that the WSH doesn?t take root.

HI, the sole recognised governing body of hockey in India, is planning to start its own domestic franchise league next year, which is expected to feature Indian as well as international players and would have the backing of world hockey governing body, FIH.

?We are already in talks with the FIH and things are nearing the final stage. Our league will be a permanent window on the annual international calendar. FIH will ensure that there will be no international action during that time. That means the best players from across the world will be free to participate in the league that will most likely be held in January-February 2013,? Indian Express quotes HI secretary Narinder Batra as saying.

Batra said that the HI will make an official announcement in a couple of days. Like WSH, the HI league will also have eight teams and will be launched next year. He also clarified that players wouldn?t be pressurised to join the league.

The move is clearly aimed at weaning away Indian players from the rival WSH by creating an alternative that is if the HI?s proposed league fructifies which none other than Nimbus will testify is easier said than done. However, it needs to be seen whether players who have signed contract with Nimbus will stay loyal or not.

For the record, the WSH is backed by Indian Hockey Federation, the erstwhile governing body of hockey in India before it was unceremoniously suspended on charges of corruption, and is marketed by Harish Thawani-promoted Nimbus Sport. The WSH involving eight city-based teams will begin 29 February and will run till 2 April.

The sword of instability still hangs over the WSH as the participation of Indian players who are currently part of the national team is still uncertain with the reports that the players are yet to receive payments that was supposed to be paid a week ahead of the tournament.

Nimbus has cleared the air by saying that players who turn up for the camps of their respective teams will get their payments as soon as they join.

"Those in the national team right now simply have to send in a letter confirming their participation in WSH and saying that they will join their respective teams after the Olympic qualifiers. The moment they join their teams, they will get their money,? Nimbus Sport COO YannickColaco told the paper.