NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAKES SMASHING INDIAN
DEBUT
The National Geographic Channel (NGC) was
officially launched in India last week with a spectacular
launch party in Mumbai's well-known Oberoi Hotel. The India
launch follows the launch gigs in Singapore and Taiwan earlier.
The NGC management announced that India had emerged as one
of the most crucial markets for the channel with a penetration
of 5.5 million homes.
"We've achieved this heartening figure within
two months of it being made available to cable operators
via Asiasat-2," says Michael March, the channel's Asia launch
managing director.
NGC is being distributed to cable operators
by Star TV's Indian operations. A monthly charge of Rs 1
to Rs 2 (2 cents to 5 cents) per subscriber is being levied
on cable operators. A slab structure has been created, depending
on the number of subs they have or declare. The higher the
subs declared, the lower the per sub-fee. Star TV India
is retaining an estimated 25% of the fees collected as its
commission.
The Indian market is characterized by the
absence of addressability, and hence broadcasters/cable
operators are not able to switch off/on homes that don't/do
want to subscribe to pay TV service.
March says the channel intends to grow its
penetration 20% every month in India. A target of 6.5 million
homes has been set for 1999. It has launched a marketing
initiative to try and achieve those numbers. Pitches by
public relations firms and media reps have been planned
for next week. Carat India has been appointed as its media
agency for the Indian market. A promotion under which a
viewer of one of the large multi-system operators Siticable
will get a holiday worth $15,400 free has been introduced.
Other such tie-ups are planned.
Discovery Channel, in existence for the past
three years in India, boasts a penetration of 10 million
homes in India, despite it being an encrypted, but non-pay
service. CEO Kiran Karnik had earlier this year announced
that Discovery will start charging cable operators a carriage
fee by 1999.
However, NGC International president Sandy
McGovern doesn't perceive Discovery or Animal Planet - to
be launched jointly by Discovery and BBC -- as competition.
"We expect to expand the market as we've done in Australia
rather than cannibalize each others' marketshare," she says.
The NGC channel was launched last year as
a 50:50 partnership between NBC and National Geographic.
