English movie channel genre to grow at 20%; Movies Now to up ad rates

English movie channel genre to grow at 20%; Movies Now to up ad rates

FMCG

MUMBAI: The English movie channel genre is sized at Rs 3.25 billion and is expected to grow at 20-25 per cent due to the entry of new players, a senior executive said.

The competition among the channels has grown the number of advertisers to 340 in 2010, up 21.4 per cent from the year-ago period which had attracted 280 advertisers.

"Companies advertising more on this genre are the new telecom companies, automobiles, electronics and white goods. FMCG, though, continues to be the largest ad spender on this genre followed by telecom, mobile and consumer electronics," said Movies Now channel head Ajay Trigunayat.

Multi Screen Media president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta agrees that the genre will grow by at least 20 per cent this year. "There is enough headroom for the genre to grow in revenue size as brands are increasingly targeting upscale audiences. The top four players will have an 80 per cent share. How the others manage in terms of revenue will have to be seen," he said.

Barely three months old, Movies Now from the Times TV Network stable is looking at doubling its advertising rates as it claims leadership among a specific upscale young audience group in the metros.

"We are No. 1 among the metro audiences in the 15-34 demographic, SEC A,B (C&S)," Trigunayat claimed. However, the rates are about half of what the competition is charging. The competition charges between Rs 3500-5000 per 10-second spot. We want to reach Rs 3000 per spot by increasing the effective rates by 100 per cent over the next three months."

Movies Now has 40 advertisers and a 70 per cent inventory utilisation rate, added Trigunayat.