|
MUMBAI:
For English movie channels, the 11 pm slot has grown as large
as the 9 pm slot in terms of viewership. Another trend emerging
is late night viewing with also the 1 am–3 am slot showing
positive viewership growth in the 15-34 upper social strata
group.
The
genre has started generating over 74 GRPs on a weekly basis
since 2011, up from 50 GRPs a year ago. "Our launch has
largely helped the English movie channel space to expand,"
says Times Television Network CEO for English entertainment
channels Ajay Trigunayat, while providing these viewership
numbers.
 Library
content is growing in importance for the genre. "Movies
Now launched with a key consumer insight that 89 per cent
of viewership is library led. The figure has now gone up to
nearly 95 per cent this year. We feel that there is an opportunity
to add more viewers to this fold," says Trigunayat.
Movies
Now has followed the concept of creating month-long tent-pole
properties since February. Says Trigunayat, " February:
Final Stand, for instance, was a movie festival that celebrated
victory against all odds like sharks', natural disasters and
aliens. In June, we did an 'Amazing 30' initiative where 30
must-watch blockbusters was shown. This strategy has worked
for us."
Another
strategy is consolidating viewership by building key slots
such as Moviethon on Sundays that telecasts back to back blockbuster
titles from 9 am to 9 pm. "We have always concentrated
on creating properties with viewer connect," avers Trigunayat.
Like
its other peer channels, Movies Now has also used social media
heavily. "With 1.6 million FaceBook fans, we are the
10th largest brand page in the TV category. We have over 13000
followers on Twitter while competition is still catching up.
We are also the most searched English movie channel on Google,"
he claims.
Movie
acquisition cost, though, remains unreasonable. "There
is an economic slowdown. So we are expecting correction in
acquisition prices soon," avers Trigunayat.
|
