The bearded CEO of Sony Entertainment Television Kunal Dasgupta has a burning desire to take Indian television programming and entertainment globally. As CEO of a company which is part of one of the largest global entertainment groups, Sony of Japan, he is ideally positioned to do so. He has gradually been spreading his lead channel Sony Entertainment Television to various pockets where the Indian diaspora can be found. Rather successully.

And in recent times he has been focusing on replicating that with Hindi cinema entertainment. Dasgupta took time out in Sydney to speak with Anita Barar in an exclusive interview on his channel's challenges and plans, the Ozland foray, and its programming efforts, both in India and Australia. Excerpts:


Why did you link with Zee and what took you so long to come here?
The size of market determines the whole scenario. We already have our presence in the US, UK and Africa. Australia was always on our mind but economically it didn't seem right to come independently to a market this size. Remember, it is not a mainstream market, so marketing in a team was needed otherwise you end up dividing the viewers.

In the UK, there are 100,000 subscribers for Zee TV and about 80,000 for Sony Entertainment. With our teaming up, the viewers benefit. This is what I want. Our main aim is to be affordable to viewers. Here, we are now working together with our arch rival Zee TV. We have set the example.

Taking care of all the aspects and details, does take time, hence it took us this long to come to you.

What are the challenges you face as CEO of Sony Entertainment Television? And how do you achieve that?
"Continue to grow to help our shareholders' needs. We have taken up theatrical distribution and production of films. This is one of the revenue streams. Mission Kashmir was the first to be launched and distributed internationally.

I want to take business to a different level… at a world level. Our subcontinent's entertainment is least exposed. I want to create a worldwide market for it. We have IT people, actors, directors, fashion models, … you name it and we have their strong presence in the global market but we don't have our entertainment on a global scale. It is yet to happen. I want Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon happening to us too. I'm very optimistic about Lagaan. It should be nominated for the Oscars.

One has to be continuously creative. I believe the core to any television channel's survival is the creative edge and knowledge.

I also would like to provide commercial-free entertainment. People are forced to watch commercials. In India, the cable operator is not paying us. So our source of revenue is commercials. That has to be changed. Our revenue should come by subscription. But to get there, I will have to change the economy. Yes, It is a big task, a big challenge but I'm ready to take it.

See here in Australia and New Zealand, you get our telecast without commercials.

How is your programming structured?
We have a team of very bright, talented people. We have built up a strong management team on top. Our selection process is very rigorous. We believe in quality. There is no compromise on quality. We carry the brand name so it has to be perfect. Our programs carry assurance of a quality production.

We continuously work on innovative programming. We were the first to launch programmes like Boogie Woogie and Movers & Shakers. Boogie Woogie has youthfulness. We made dreams come true with the Miss India contest. We made them exclusive. We even brought the great Lata (Mangeshkar) and Asha (Bhosale) to the small screen. We have shows focusing on filmstars like Hrithik Roshan, India's current heart throb…, famous actresses etc. We do the best events including international awards.

We have a team of very bright, talented people. We have built up a strong management team on top. Our selection process is very rigorous. We believe in quality. There is no compromise on quality. We carry the brand name so it has to be perfect.

We also care about the emotional factor. Lagaan was premiered in South Africa for the reason that Gandhiji started our freedom struggle there. Lagaan has the same struggle in the same non-violent way. It had this emotional factor and we recognised that.

We have a variety of programs… sitcoms, dramas, gameshows and films. We show the best of films, old and new. Since we take the release rights of films we can show new films too.

So we provide well-packaged programming and thrive on quality, variety, youthfulness, innovation and emotion.


Would you involve local talent and use Australian locations for your programmes?
Why not? But it all depends on the numbers of subscribers we get here. We once did a half-hour show based in the UK which was very popular.

And what about local proposals? And at what stage should they approach Sony?
Yes, we would look for that too. We want strong concepts. If we find a worthy project, we would make sure that it is rolling. I would encourage people to approach us at the "idea" stage. There is always a risk factor with a finished product, because in that case we don't have any control on broadcast quality. Well whatever stage one is in, they should let us know and we would definitely like to look at it.