|
Broadcast
Worldwide Business Development director Pradipto Sircar refuses
to be cowed down by rival regional satellite channels that
are stealing viewers, while the four Tara channels are yet
to set the TRPs on fire.
The coming months, he says, belong to news programming that
will be beefed up on all four - Tara Marathi, Tara Bangla,
Tara Gujarati and Tara Marathi. There's more in the pipeline,
but plans will be unveiled only after they are firmed up.
Excerpts from a conversation with Aparna Joshi -
In this intensely competitive regional channel
market, how are the Tara channels doing? What is Tara's future?
While the Tara channels are not doing well in the metros,
we are doing unexpectedly better in the interiors. In the
satellite channel scenario, Tara ranks third. But the channel
reaches 80 per cent of the population, say in Maharashtra.
We now plan to focus on news programming, which has helped
ETV score over rival channels in this state. We had novel
programming like telecast of Marathi plays, but returns on
investments have not been enough.
For Tara Bangla as well as for Tara Marathi, we are planning
to introduce several news programmes, which will focus on
local news, from the gram panchayat level up. Tara Bangla
is also the first regional channel to start Hindi news shows
in the late night slot. The channel currently has 13 hours
of fresh programming from the beginning of the new year. Tara
Marathi should see a similar initiative soon.
|
Tara
reaches nearly 80 per cent of the population in Maharashtra
__________
|
 |
Where is the money coming from?
Crombie International has made good its commitment of $ 800,000
already. That money has already been channelised to various
uses, Tara Bangla being one of them. Currently, the investment
is coming from our regular institutional investors like IDBI
and others. We are now looking for strategic tie-ups with
software producers for making news programmes which will be
the mainstay of the Tara channels.
Is your strategy to employ classified advertising on the
channel paying off?
Classified advertising has been an unexpected success.
We kicked off the campaign without any dedicated sales force
or depots. But it did very well in the rest of Maharashtra,
where small firms and outfits are always on the lookout for
niche media. The low rates, the visual appeal of the ads and
the direct appeal to target viewers has been a great success.
We are now planning to open classified depots and appoint
agents in various towns in Maharashtra to expand this operation.
 |
We
are looking at strategic tie ups with software producers
for making news programmes
__________
|
What has been the strategy behind revamping Tara Bangla?
Tara Bangla too targets the rest of Bengal more than just
the viewer in Kolkata. We have tied up with an independent
software producer, Rainbow, which provides news programmes
as well as movies and other entertainment programmes. The
local Hindi news bulletin in the late night slot too has touched
a chord with non Bangla speaking population.
What will be strategy behind the revamp of Tara Marathi?
There will be extensive news programmes on the channel to
get viewers in the rest of Maharashtra, where we reach 80
per cent of the state. There will also be a stress on programmes
that revive the rural and folk traditions of the state, with
shows on lavani (folk dances), natyasangeet (music
theatre) and such other forms that often do not have any other
platform to air. Currently, 80 per cent of programming on
Tara Marathi is re-runs, but all that will change in the next
couple of months.
What about Tara Gujarati and Tara Punjabi?
Tara Gujarati does very well in the interiors of Gujarat but
since all the people meters are installed in Ahmedabad, the
ratings do not reflect actual viewership. We will be beefing
up news programmes on Tara Gujarati as well, to counter competition
from rival channels. Tara Punjabi is the last on our revamp
list, but it will eventually be a news, music and Gurbani
channel.
What about other initiatives on Tara?
A Ganesh Utsav programme last year drew an excellent
response from the rest of Maharashtra, with several organizations
vying for the best pandal prize. We also brought out Punjabi
and Marathi audio cassettes of songs, and another in Bangla
recently, titled Club Bengal, which has already had
three re-prints.
|
