Colors, known as 

Aapka Colors in the US, is a Hindi language Indian general entertainment channel

based in Mumbai,[1] part of the Viacom 18family, which was launched on July 21, 2008.[2] The channel
got a huge popularity just after its launch with Khatron Ka Khiladi: Fear Factor with Bollywood
actor Akshay Kumar and due to its successful ratings, it received a top position among other Hindi
general entertainment channels for a little while, such as Zee TV, Sony TV, STAR Plus, and Sahara
One. The network has successfully completed its 1st year.

Currently, the channel is featuring a number of successful shows, such as Balika Vadhu, Jai Shri
Krishna and Bigg Boss 4. The channels' most popular show, Balika Vadhu has been ranked in the
TOP 5 shows of Indian television's TRPs charts, within 3 months of its launch. [3]

On 21 January 2010, Colors became available on Dish Network in the US, where it is called Aapka
Colors (Respectfully your Colors) because of a clash with Colours TV.[4] Amitabh Bachchan served as
brand ambassador for the UK and USA launches.[5]

Colors launched in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky on 25 January 2010.[6] On 9 December
2009, INX Media confirmed that Colors had bought 9XM's Sky EPG slot on channel 829 and on 5
January 2010, Colors secured a deal to join the VIEWASIA subscription package. [7][8]EPG tests began
on 4 January 2010 using the 9XM stream, followed by Colors' own video and audio on 8 January. [9]
[10]
 Initially the channel was available free-to-air and then subsequently was added to the VIEWASIA
package on 19 April 2010.[11]
2 COLORS’ unveils its basket full of ‘Jasbaat Ke Rang’ and in it is the right blend of fictions shows, format
shows, reality shows and blockbuster movies….
COLORS, the Hindi General Entertainment channel by Viacom 18 Media Pvt Ltd (a joint venture between
Viacom Inc and Network18), unveiled yesterday its power-packed line-up of eight new shows showcasing an
entire spectrum of emotions. These range across genres – fiction-based social family dramas, fun-filled chat
shows, high-voltage action reality shows, and blockbuster Hindi movies. 'COLORS' will be launched on Indian
television screens on July 21st 2008, 7.00 p.m. onwards.
Announcing the launch Rajesh Kamat, Chief Executive Officer – ‘COLORS’, said, “I am delighted to announce
that as planned, COLORS will beam into millions of Indian television screens on July 21st from 7:00 pm onwards.
Our differentiated content, coupled with disruptive scheduling and peppered with some of the biggest blockbuster
Hindi movies, will help us deliver on our promise of ‘cohesive viewing’.” He further added, “The wide spectrum of
emotions covered in our programming offers something for everyone and everything for some. We are confident
that every household in India will have some member or the other watching ‘COLORS’ between 7 and 11 p.m., to
begin.”
Talking of the programming line-up, Ashvini Yardi, Programming Head, ‘COLORS’ said, “We have partnered with
industry heavyweights & the finest production houses of the country to showcase a line-up that is contemporary,
fresh and with a universal appeal. Through our basket of shows, ‘COLORS’ will also present to Indian TV viewers
some of the most exciting new talent.” She further added, “ One of the highlights of most of our shows is the
music that boasts of title tracks composed and sung by Bollywood’s most renowned names- Alka Yagnik, Anand
Raj Anand, Neeraj Shridhar, Suresh Wadekar, Mahalaxmi Iyer, Shreya Goshal amongst many more.”

COLORS also announced its acquisition of some of India’s latest blockbuster Hindi movies like Singh Is King,

Bhootnath, Heyy Baby, Om Shanti Om, One Two Three, Dus Kahanniya, Sunday amongst many others that will

further strengthen its offering to its viewers and will be shown every Sunday at 4 PM.

3
V iacom and Raghav Bahl-promoted Network18 are furiously working together to
create an entertainmentconglomerate in India. The central piece in their build-up plan is
a Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) that would support other blocks like a
Hindi movie channel and a clutch of regional entertainment channels.

Colors has had a dream nine-month run, ending Star Plus’ nine-year rule to become the
No. 1 GEC for two consecutive weeks. Puffed with big reality format shows and movies,
the channel has made a mark with “disruptive” and “differentiated” content. Family
dramas like Balika Vadhu, which are contrarian to Balaji Telefilms’ “K” soaps, have been
lapped up by audiences.

Driving Colors’ growth is Rajesh Kamat, the strategist behind the big bang theory who
loves to fire at his enemies from all sides. Crafting a plan built on costly but calculated
bets, Kamat has shown that a direct play in the tier I GEC space is safer than a
cautious, cost-conserving approach. Playing in the tier II game can extend the channel’s
break even by four more years while the revenue upside for the tier I GEC is huge, he
says.

No wonder Colors is eyeing a revenue of Rs 5 billion and a fourth-quarter break even

this fiscal as the channel sits on a stable GRP (gross rating points) base of over 250.

Timing has been key to Kamat’s success as has been the ability to take risks. When
Colors launched last year, TV audiences were already showing fatigue symptoms with
an overdose of look alike, urban soaps. The movie syndication business had also caught
on, allowing Colors to line up a formidable “second run” movie strategy within
reasonable costs. Studio18, a sister company engaged in the movie production and
distribution business, also churned out hits during the year.

Having spent his previous years at Rupert Murdoch’s Star India, Kamat has learnt the
art of scaling up. He is ready to stitch advertising deals that would place Colors in the
big league with revenues of over Rs 5 billion, kick in pay income, and take it to the
international markets.

The distribution deal with TheOneAlliance, which has Indian Premier League (IPL)
content through Max channel, will help Colors in making a smooth transition to pay.
Besides, the deal guarantees the Viacom18 channels of Colors, MTV, Nick and VH1 a
subscription revenue of Rs 3 billion over three years.
 
In an interview with Indiantelevision.com's Sibabrata Das, Colors CEO Kamat talks
about the challenges that Hindi GECs face in a ring that has three close competitors.

Excerpts:
 
How significant a feeling is it to end Star Plus' nine-year rule as the No. 1 Hindi
GEC and yet continue to fight weekly for the top slot?
For a challenger brand like Colors, it was important to breach the psychological barrier
and feel life at the top. But we realise we are entering into a bloodbath as there would
be no undisputed leader in the Hindi GEC space. From now on, it will be a weekly battle
as Star Plus will not give up its nine-year rule so easily. Zee TV is also in the race. Like
in the US, we are headed for a confused leadership status with dependence on spikes
and seasonality.
So you are still in an uncomfortable position?
Not really. We have reached a stable base of 250 GRPs (gross rating points) from our
programming. And we are not banking only on Balika Vadhu, which is the biggest
perception driver show for us, for our ratings. We have a basket of shows that rate over
3 TVR. With movies, we are stable in the 280-300 GRP band.

There are other healthy indicators. Our reach at 73 per cent is higher than that of Star
Plus. Our prime time GRPs are also higher.
Movies seem to be a divider between Star Plus and Colors at this stage. But
isn't this a fickle GRP base?
Even if we fall by half, we will have around 25 GRPs from movies. And then there will be
spikes. We have created a stable base for us. The idea is to grow from this.
Are you in a position now to play first run movies on your channel?
Absolutely. After establishing a base of over 250 GRPs, we are in a position to upgrade
to a first run of movies on Colors as we can monetise our investments on such big
premieres. Our plan is to have at least eight premieres in a year. Ghajani and Jaane
Tu...Ya Jaane Na are steps in this direction.
There is also the flexibility of launching the afternoon band. When will you be
playing this card?
We do 22-23 hours of weekly programming as against 33-38 hours done by Star Plus
and Zee TV. Our weekends are not full blown and we have the afternoon band to create.
So when the need arises, we can increase original content on our channel to drive in
more GRPs.

We were actually tempted a couple of months back to firm up our afternoon strategy.
But we decided instead to replace our weaker prime time content at 9.30 pm and 10.30
pm as they were not delivering to the potential. The rejig strategy worked for us as Naa
Ana Is Desh Ladoo started delivering. Since the afternoon slots are also doing well with
repeats, we can launch an assault with original shows when the need arises. That part
of the arsenal we are yet to use.
 

'After establishing a base of over 250 GRPs, we are in a

position to upgrade to a first run of movies as we can
monetise our investments. Our plan is to have at least
eight premieres in a year'
 
Stable GRPs, movies, afernoon band yet to launch - are these the selling points
to advertisers?
When we launched last year, we were clear in the head that we would only do short
term ad deals and at rates we were comfortable with. The channel, in any case, was
growing and we believed our product offering was worth much more. We did not want a
hangover of the old deals. Come 1 April and we are operating on effective rates which is
clearly off old deals. It's a free run this year and we have stitched new deals at rates
which have come from a position of over 250 GRPs. Yes, we tell advertisers that we are
stable on GRPs, we have 14 hours to launch, and we have these rockets in form of
reality shows which are to come up each quarter.

Is Colors targeting a revenue of Rs 5 billion and a fourth-quarter break even

this fiscal?
I can't comment on the financials, but monetising of GRPs is our primary task now. This
year will become the base and benchmark for us. For our big properties, we have
already signed with Idea as title sponsor for Khataron Ke Khiladi(Fear Factor) and Maruti
Suzuki for India's Got Talent.
Is it true that Colors' programming budget this fiscal is Rs 4.25 billion and the
running cost is at 20 per cent above rival GECs?
When I was at Coca-Cola, I learnt how they used to pump in 70 per cent of their ad
budgets in seasons. That is what we did; our annual budget is like the other big GECs
while the perception we have built in the market is that we spend big monies on
content. You either pump in the money upfront or spread it out. When we launched, we
hadKhataron Ke Khiladi and backed it with Bigg Boss 2. We fired two missiles, hoping at
least one would hit. As it turned out, both became hits. And we used Akshay Kumar for
our content, which also helped in marketing our channel. Obviously, non-fiction can't
sustain on weekdays. But we used Bigg Boss to build Uttaran.

Also, our concept of cost control is reducing the number of hours of original content.
Unlike conventional media thinking, we provided alternative time slots for our prime
time content and introduced repeats in the afternoon band. At a time when there is so
much of audience fragmentation, this worked and maximised our reach. The afternoon
repeats got us good ratings.
Considering the Hindi GEC ecosystem, is it not strategically imperative to go for
a big bang theory than fiddle in the mid-rung space with low costs?
It is better to play in the tier 1 game and go out with full ammunition than take a cost-
conserving approach and prepare for gradual growth. The revenue upside is much
higher if you have touched 250 GRPs. By playing in the tier II race, you are effectively
pushing back your break even by four more years. You would probably save in
programming costs, but distribution expenses would be the same for both the players.
And if you haven't quickly moved from a consumer push to a pull situation, you would
continue to pay high on distribution. In case of Colors, we will be actually reducing our
payout to cable operators in the second year. On top of that, we could turn into a pay
channel.
Were you not fortunate in that viewers were looking for a change from the 'K'
soaps (Kyunki..., Kasauti... and Kahani...) and nobody was willing to take a risk
in providing differentiated content?
The time was favourable in that there was a fatigue built in for the kind of soaps that
were running on Indian television. We made disruptive and differentiated content our
main plank. We were willing to take a calculated risk; our concepts were different and
on the riskier side. But they worked.
 
Even the movie syndication business caught on at the time of your launch. How
helpful was this?
The strategy was to go second run on movies. We could play on that gameplan because
the syndication market opened up. This made it feasible for new players like us to keep
our movie slot alive within reasonable costs.
How was the content strategy drawn?
Broadly, between 7 to 9 pm, we placed shows that had strong appeal among non-metro
masses as that is the time zone which attracts viewers from smaller towns. The 9-10
pm slot had content tailored for smaller towns as well as metros as there is an overlap
of viewership. The more urban shows like Fear Factor and Sajid's Superstars were
placed at 10 pm.

More specifically, we knew there was a vacuum, particularly among the Gujarati
viewers, in the 8.30 pm slot after the exit of Kasauti. We placed Jai Shri Krishna (JSK)
in that time slot. we worked out such micro details while planning our programming
grid.
When Star Plus launched Kaun Banega Crorepati, it built lead-in slots. Wasn't
your strategy different in that your showpiece programme Khataron Ka
Khiladi was at 10 pm while the other main shows were before that?
We couldn't have launched Khataron Ke Khiladi at 9 pm; it had to be 10 pm. It was our
differentiator show and Akshay Kumar gave it the scale.

Our first task was to get noticed, invade into single TV households in prime time, and
shake up the house. Outside this, we built slots through a different kind of programming
slant. Balika Vadhu, for instance, was a family drama based on child marriage and
carried a social message. What followed was the lead-in concept. We now own 8-9 pm
and 10-10.30 pm.
Any specific strategy for timing the launch of Colors on 21 July?
Since IPL (Indian Premier League) was in April-May, we knew it would disrupt GEC
viewership. We saw that as an opportunity to launch Colors post-IPL. It was also 2-3
months before the Diwali season, a hot time for advertisers. That gave us a window to
settle in.
The market talks of Rs 800 million as your distribution cost for the first year?
Without getting into figures, let me tell you that we took a conscious decision to take
space on cable networks next to Star Plus and Zee TV. That outlet was reasonably
expensive, but it gave us strategic reach.
Why did you decide on TheOneAlliance to distribute Colors when it turned pay?
Besides the monetary offer (rumoured to be Rs 3 billion over three years for the
Viacom18 channels of Colors, MTV, Nick and VH1), it was the IPL that swung the deal in
favour of TheOneAlliance. Since we turned pay on 1 April and the IPL kicked off on 18
April, it was a good window to make the transition and yet not see impact on the
ratings.
Will there be any revenue inflow from subscription this fiscal or will it be offset
against carriage fees?
We may not see any net gain from pay revenues this fiscal, but we have a step up plan
and the second and third years would be crucial. For the first six months, in fact, what
we payout will be more than what we collect. If the cable operator switches us off, he
will stand to lose more. This will act as a disincentive for him to switch us off.
Importantly, we have done almost 80 per cent of the cable deals.
Is Colors planning to spread its wings outside India?
We will be launching in the US within 3-6 months. We then plan to reach Dubai before
we land in the UK. International revenues fall straight into the bottomline.
Colors has also opened up syndication revenues with JSK being licensed to Raj
TV. How aggressive will you be on this?
We are looking at syndicating our other shows like Balika Vadhu. We are getting queries
from Doordarshan and other networks for some of our content. We are also eyeing the
global syndication market. But we have to be careful and conscious that this doesn't
jeopardise our beam syndication plans.
Will Viacom18 launch a Hindi movie channel and enter into regional language
channels?
Before diversifying into new products, we want to build on Colors. We want the
international distribution and market to stabilise before we launch anything. We will
prioritise then, based on which is the most growing pocket - a Hindi movie channel or
regional channels. That is a call we will take at that stage.
Viacom and Raghav Bahl-promoted Network18 are furiously working together
to create an entertainmentconglomerate in India. The central piece in their
build-up plan is a Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) that would
support other blocks like a Hindi movie channel and a clutch of regional
entertainment channels.
Colors has had a dream nine-month run, ending Star Plus’ nine-year rule to
become the No. 1 GEC for two consecutive weeks. Puffed with big reality
format shows and movies, the channel has made a mark with “disruptive” and
“differentiated” content. Family dramas like Balika Vadhu, which are
contrarian to Balaji Telefilms’ “K” soaps, have been lapped up by audiences.
Driving Colors’ growth is Rajesh Kamat, the strategist behind the big bang
theory who loves to fire at his enemies from all sides. Crafting a plan built on
costly but calculated bets, Kamat has shown that a direct play in the tier I GEC
space is safer than a cautious, cost-conserving approach. Playing in the tier II
game can extend the channel’s break even by four more years while the
revenue upside for the tier I GEC is huge, he says.
No wonder Colors is eyeing a revenue of Rs 5 billion and a fourth-quarter break
even this fiscal as the channel sits on a stable GRP (gross rating points) base
of over 250.
Timing has been key to Kamat’s success as has been the ability to take risks.
When Colors launched last year, TV audiences were already showing fatigue
symptoms with an overdose of look alike, urban soaps. The movie syndication
business had also caught on, allowing Colors to line up a formidable “second
run” movie strategy within reasonable costs. Studio18, a sister company
engaged in the movie production and distribution business, also churned out
hits during the year.
Having spent his previous years at Rupert Murdoch’s Star India, Kamat has
learnt the art of scaling up. He is ready to stitch advertising deals that would
place Colors in the big league with revenues of over Rs 5 billion, kick in pay
income, and take it to the international markets.
The distribution deal with TheOneAlliance, which has Indian Premier League
(IPL) content through Max channel, will help Colors in making a smooth
transition to pay. Besides, the deal guarantees the Viacom18 channels of
Colors, MTV, Nick and VH1 a subscription revenue of Rs 3 billion over three
years.
 
In an interview with Indiantelevision.com's Sibabrata Das, Colors CEO Kamat
talks about the challenges that Hindi GECs face in a ring that has three close
competitors.
Excerpts:
 
How significant a feeling is it to end Star Plus' nine-year rule as the No. 1 Hindi
GEC and yet continue to fight weekly for the top slot?
For a challenger brand like Colors, it was important to breach the psychological
barrier and feel life at the top. But we realise we are entering into a bloodbath
as there would be no undisputed leader in the Hindi GEC space. From now on, it
will be a weekly battle as Star Plus will not give up its nine-year rule so easily.
Zee TV is also in the race. Like in the US, we are headed for a confused
leadership status with dependence on spikes and seasonality.
So you are still in an uncomfortable position?
Not really. We have reached a stable base of 250 GRPs (gross rating points)
from our programming. And we are not banking only on Balika Vadhu, which is
the biggest perception driver show for us, for our ratings. We have a basket of
shows that rate over 3 TVR. With movies, we are stable in the 280-300 GRP
band.

There are other healthy indicators. Our reach at 73 per cent is higher than that
of Star Plus. Our prime time GRPs are also higher.
Movies seem to be a divider between Star Plus and Colors at this stage. But
isn't this a fickle GRP base?
Even if we fall by half, we will have around 25 GRPs from movies. And then
there will be spikes. We have created a stable base for us. The idea is to grow
from this.
Are you in a position now to play first run movies on your channel?
Absolutely. After establishing a base of over 250 GRPs, we are in a position to
upgrade to a first run of movies on Colors as we can monetise our investments
on such big premieres. Our plan is to have at least eight premieres in a
year. Ghajani and Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na are steps in this direction.
There is also the flexibility of launching the afternoon band. When will you be
playing this card?
We do 22-23 hours of weekly programming as against 33-38 hours done by
Star Plus and Zee TV. Our weekends are not full blown and we have the
afternoon band to create. So when the need arises, we can increase original
content on our channel to drive in more GRPs.
We were actually tempted a couple of months back to firm up our afternoon
strategy. But we decided instead to replace our weaker prime time content at
9.30 pm and 10.30 pm as they were not delivering to the potential. The rejig
strategy worked for us as Naa Ana Is Desh Ladoo started delivering. Since the
afternoon slots are also doing well with repeats, we can launch an assault with
original shows when the need arises. That part of the arsenal we are yet to
use.
 

'After establishing a base of over 250 GRPs, we are in a

position to upgrade to a first run of movies as we can
monetise our investments. Our plan is to have at least
eight premieres in a year'
 
Stable GRPs, movies, afernoon band yet to launch - are these the selling points
to advertisers?
When we launched last year, we were clear in the head that we would only do
short term ad deals and at rates we were comfortable with. The channel, in any
case, was growing and we believed our product offering was worth much
more. We did not want a hangover of the old deals. Come 1 April and we are
operating on effective rates which is clearly off old deals. It's a free run this
year and we have stitched new deals at rates which have come from a position
of over 250 GRPs. Yes, we tell advertisers that we are stable on GRPs, we have
14 hours to launch, and we have these rockets in form of reality shows which
are to come up each quarter.
Is Colors targeting a revenue of Rs 5 billion and a fourth-quarter break even
this fiscal?
I can't comment on the financials, but monetising of GRPs is our primary task
now. This year will become the base and benchmark for us. For our big
properties, we have already signed with Idea as title sponsor for Khataron Ke
Khiladi(Fear Factor) and Maruti Suzuki for India's Got Talent.
Is it true that Colors' programming budget this fiscal is Rs 4.25 billion and the
running cost is at 20 per cent above rival GECs?
When I was at Coca-Cola, I learnt how they used to pump in 70 per cent of
their ad budgets in seasons. That is what we did; our annual budget is like the
other big GECs while the perception we have built in the market is that we
spend big monies on content. You either pump in the money upfront or spread
it out. When we launched, we hadKhataron Ke Khiladi and backed it with Bigg
Boss 2. We fired two missiles, hoping at least one would hit. As it turned out,
both became hits. And we used Akshay Kumar for our content, which also
helped in marketing our channel. Obviously, non-fiction can't sustain on
weekdays. But we used Bigg Boss to build Uttaran.

Also, our concept of cost control is reducing the number of hours of original
content. Unlike conventional media thinking, we provided alternative time slots
for our prime time content and introduced repeats in the afternoon band. At a
time when there is so much of audience fragmentation, this worked and
maximised our reach. The afternoon repeats got us good ratings.
Considering the Hindi GEC ecosystem, is it not strategically imperative to go for
a big bang theory than fiddle in the mid-rung space with low costs?
It is better to play in the tier 1 game and go out with full ammunition than take
a cost-conserving approach and prepare for gradual growth. The revenue
upside is much higher if you have touched 250 GRPs. By playing in the tier II
race, you are effectively pushing back your break even by four more years. You
would probably save in programming costs, but distribution expenses would be
the same for both the players. And if you haven't quickly moved from a
consumer push to a pull situation, you would continue to pay high on
distribution. In case of Colors, we will be actually reducing our payout to cable
operators in the second year. On top of that, we could turn into a pay channel.
Were you not fortunate in that viewers were looking for a change from the 'K'
soaps (Kyunki..., Kasauti... and Kahani...) and nobody was willing to take a risk
in providing differentiated content?
The time was favourable in that there was a fatigue built in for the kind of
soaps that were running on Indian television. We made disruptive and
differentiated content our main plank. We were willing to take a calculated
risk; our concepts were different and on the riskier side. But they worked.
 
Even the movie syndication business caught on at the time of your launch. How
helpful was this?
The strategy was to go second run on movies. We could play on that gameplan
because the syndication market opened up. This made it feasible for new
players like us to keep our movie slot alive within reasonable costs.
How was the content strategy drawn?
Broadly, between 7 to 9 pm, we placed shows that had strong appeal among
non-metro masses as that is the time zone which attracts viewers from smaller
towns. The 9-10 pm slot had content tailored for smaller towns as well as
metros as there is an overlap of viewership. The more urban shows like Fear
Factor and Sajid's Superstars were placed at 10 pm.
More specifically, we knew there was a vacuum, particularly among the
Gujarati viewers, in the 8.30 pm slot after the exit of Kasauti. We placed Jai
Shri Krishna (JSK) in that time slot. we worked out such micro details while
planning our programming grid.
When Star Plus launched Kaun Banega Crorepati, it built lead-in slots. Wasn't
your strategy different in that your showpiece programme Khataron Ka
Khiladi was at 10 pm while the other main shows were before that?
We couldn't have launched Khataron Ke Khiladi at 9 pm; it had to be 10 pm. It
was our differentiator show and Akshay Kumar gave it the scale.
Our first task was to get noticed, invade into single TV households in prime
time, and shake up the house. Outside this, we built slots through a different
kind of programming slant. Balika Vadhu, for instance, was a family drama
based on child marriage and carried a social message. What followed was the
lead-in concept. We now own 8-9 pm and 10-10.30 pm.
Any specific strategy for timing the launch of Colors on 21 July?
Since IPL (Indian Premier League) was in April-May, we knew it would disrupt
GEC viewership. We saw that as an opportunity to launch Colors post-IPL. It
was also 2-3 months before the Diwali season, a hot time for advertisers. That
gave us a window to settle in.
The market talks of Rs 800 million as your distribution cost for the first year?
Without getting into figures, let me tell you that we took a conscious decision
to take space on cable networks next to Star Plus and Zee TV. That outlet was
reasonably expensive, but it gave us strategic reach.
Why did you decide on TheOneAlliance to distribute Colors when it turned pay?
Besides the monetary offer (rumoured to be Rs 3 billion over three years for
the Viacom18 channels of Colors, MTV, Nick and VH1), it was the IPL that
swung the deal in favour of TheOneAlliance. Since we turned pay on 1 April
and the IPL kicked off on 18 April, it was a good window to make the transition
and yet not see impact on the ratings.
Will there be any revenue inflow from subscription this fiscal or will it be offset
against carriage fees?
We may not see any net gain from pay revenues this fiscal, but we have a step
up plan and the second and third years would be crucial. For the first six
months, in fact, what we payout will be more than what we collect. If the cable
operator switches us off, he will stand to lose more. This will act as a
disincentive for him to switch us off. Importantly, we have done almost 80 per
cent of the cable deals.
Is Colors planning to spread its wings outside India?
We will be launching in the US within 3-6 months. We then plan to reach Dubai
before we land in the UK. International revenues fall straight into the
bottomline.
Colors has also opened up syndication revenues with JSK being licensed to Raj
TV. How aggressive will you be on this?
We are looking at syndicating our other shows like Balika Vadhu. We are
getting queries from Doordarshan and other networks for some of our content.
We are also eyeing the global syndication market. But we have to be careful
and conscious that this doesn't jeopardise our beam syndication plans.
Will Viacom18 launch a Hindi movie channel and enter into regional language
channels?
Before diversifying into new products, we want to build on Colors. We want the
international distribution and market to stabilise before we launch anything.
We will prioritise then, based on which is the most growing pocket - a Hindi
movie channel or regional channels. That is a call we will take at that stage.
Viacom and Raghav Bahl-promoted Network18 are furiously working together
to create an entertainmentconglomerate in India. The central piece in their
build-up plan is a Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) that would
support other blocks like a Hindi movie channel and a clutch of regional
entertainment channels.
Colors has had a dream nine-month run, ending Star Plus’ nine-year rule to
become the No. 1 GEC for two consecutive weeks. Puffed with big reality
format shows and movies, the channel has made a mark with “disruptive” and
“differentiated” content. Family dramas like Balika Vadhu, which are
contrarian to Balaji Telefilms’ “K” soaps, have been lapped up by audiences.
Driving Colors’ growth is Rajesh Kamat, the strategist behind the big bang
theory who loves to fire at his enemies from all sides. Crafting a plan built on
costly but calculated bets, Kamat has shown that a direct play in the tier I GEC
space is safer than a cautious, cost-conserving approach. Playing in the tier II
game can extend the channel’s break even by four more years while the
revenue upside for the tier I GEC is huge, he says.
No wonder Colors is eyeing a revenue of Rs 5 billion and a fourth-quarter break
even this fiscal as the channel sits on a stable GRP (gross rating points) base
of over 250.
Timing has been key to Kamat’s success as has been the ability to take risks.
When Colors launched last year, TV audiences were already showing fatigue
symptoms with an overdose of look alike, urban soaps. The movie syndication
business had also caught on, allowing Colors to line up a formidable “second
run” movie strategy within reasonable costs. Studio18, a sister company
engaged in the movie production and distribution business, also churned out
hits during the year.
Having spent his previous years at Rupert Murdoch’s Star India, Kamat has
learnt the art of scaling up. He is ready to stitch advertising deals that would
place Colors in the big league with revenues of over Rs 5 billion, kick in pay
income, and take it to the international markets.
The distribution deal with TheOneAlliance, which has Indian Premier League
(IPL) content through Max channel, will help Colors in making a smooth
transition to pay. Besides, the deal guarantees the Viacom18 channels of
Colors, MTV, Nick and VH1 a subscription revenue of Rs 3 billion over three
years.
 
In an interview with Indiantelevision.com's Sibabrata Das, Colors CEO Kamat
talks about the challenges that Hindi GECs face in a ring that has three close
competitors.
Excerpts:
 
How significant a feeling is it to end Star Plus' nine-year rule as the No. 1 Hindi
GEC and yet continue to fight weekly for the top slot?
For a challenger brand like Colors, it was important to breach the psychological
barrier and feel life at the top. But we realise we are entering into a bloodbath
as there would be no undisputed leader in the Hindi GEC space. From now on, it
will be a weekly battle as Star Plus will not give up its nine-year rule so easily.
Zee TV is also in the race. Like in the US, we are headed for a confused
leadership status with dependence on spikes and seasonality.
So you are still in an uncomfortable position?
Not really. We have reached a stable base of 250 GRPs (gross rating points)
from our programming. And we are not banking only on Balika Vadhu, which is
the biggest perception driver show for us, for our ratings. We have a basket of
shows that rate over 3 TVR. With movies, we are stable in the 280-300 GRP
band.

There are other healthy indicators. Our reach at 73 per cent is higher than that
of Star Plus. Our prime time GRPs are also higher.
Movies seem to be a divider between Star Plus and Colors at this stage. But
isn't this a fickle GRP base?
Even if we fall by half, we will have around 25 GRPs from movies. And then
there will be spikes. We have created a stable base for us. The idea is to grow
from this.
Are you in a position now to play first run movies on your channel?
Absolutely. After establishing a base of over 250 GRPs, we are in a position to
upgrade to a first run of movies on Colors as we can monetise our investments
on such big premieres. Our plan is to have at least eight premieres in a
year. Ghajani and Jaane Tu...Ya Jaane Na are steps in this direction.
There is also the flexibility of launching the afternoon band. When will you be
playing this card?
We do 22-23 hours of weekly programming as against 33-38 hours done by
Star Plus and Zee TV. Our weekends are not full blown and we have the
afternoon band to create. So when the need arises, we can increase original
content on our channel to drive in more GRPs.
We were actually tempted a couple of months back to firm up our afternoon
strategy. But we decided instead to replace our weaker prime time content at
9.30 pm and 10.30 pm as they were not delivering to the potential. The rejig
strategy worked for us as Naa Ana Is Desh Ladoo started delivering. Since the
afternoon slots are also doing well with repeats, we can launch an assault with
original shows when the need arises. That part of the arsenal we are yet to
use.
 

'After establishing a base of over 250 GRPs, we are in a

position to upgrade to a first run of movies as we can
monetise our investments. Our plan is to have at least
eight premieres in a year'
 
Stable GRPs, movies, afernoon band yet to launch - are these the selling points
to advertisers?
When we launched last year, we were clear in the head that we would only do
short term ad deals and at rates we were comfortable with. The channel, in any
case, was growing and we believed our product offering was worth much
more. We did not want a hangover of the old deals. Come 1 April and we are
operating on effective rates which is clearly off old deals. It's a free run this
year and we have stitched new deals at rates which have come from a position
of over 250 GRPs. Yes, we tell advertisers that we are stable on GRPs, we have
14 hours to launch, and we have these rockets in form of reality shows which
are to come up each quarter.
Is Colors targeting a revenue of Rs 5 billion and a fourth-quarter break even
this fiscal?
I can't comment on the financials, but monetising of GRPs is our primary task
now. This year will become the base and benchmark for us. For our big
properties, we have already signed with Idea as title sponsor for Khataron Ke
Khiladi(Fear Factor) and Maruti Suzuki for India's Got Talent.
Is it true that Colors' programming budget this fiscal is Rs 4.25 billion and the
running cost is at 20 per cent above rival GECs?
When I was at Coca-Cola, I learnt how they used to pump in 70 per cent of
their ad budgets in seasons. That is what we did; our annual budget is like the
other big GECs while the perception we have built in the market is that we
spend big monies on content. You either pump in the money upfront or spread
it out. When we launched, we hadKhataron Ke Khiladi and backed it with Bigg
Boss 2. We fired two missiles, hoping at least one would hit. As it turned out,
both became hits. And we used Akshay Kumar for our content, which also
helped in marketing our channel. Obviously, non-fiction can't sustain on
weekdays. But we used Bigg Boss to build Uttaran.
Also, our concept of cost control is reducing the number of hours of original
content. Unlike conventional media thinking, we provided alternative time slots
for our prime time content and introduced repeats in the afternoon band. At a
time when there is so much of audience fragmentation, this worked and
maximised our reach. The afternoon repeats got us good ratings.
Considering the Hindi GEC ecosystem, is it not strategically imperative to go for
a big bang theory than fiddle in the mid-rung space with low costs?
It is better to play in the tier 1 game and go out with full ammunition than take
a cost-conserving approach and prepare for gradual growth. The revenue
upside is much higher if you have touched 250 GRPs. By playing in the tier II
race, you are effectively pushing back your break even by four more years. You
would probably save in programming costs, but distribution expenses would be
the same for both the players. And if you haven't quickly moved from a
consumer push to a pull situation, you would continue to pay high on
distribution. In case of Colors, we will be actually reducing our payout to cable
operators in the second year. On top of that, we could turn into a pay channel.
Were you not fortunate in that viewers were looking for a change from the 'K'
soaps (Kyunki..., Kasauti... and Kahani...) and nobody was willing to take a risk
in providing differentiated content?
The time was favourable in that there was a fatigue built in for the kind of
soaps that were running on Indian television. We made disruptive and
differentiated content our main plank. We were willing to take a calculated
risk; our concepts were different and on the riskier side. But they worked.
 
Even the movie syndication business caught on at the time of your launch. How
helpful was this?
The strategy was to go second run on movies. We could play on that gameplan
because the syndication market opened up. This made it feasible for new
players like us to keep our movie slot alive within reasonable costs.
How was the content strategy drawn?
Broadly, between 7 to 9 pm, we placed shows that had strong appeal among
non-metro masses as that is the time zone which attracts viewers from smaller
towns. The 9-10 pm slot had content tailored for smaller towns as well as
metros as there is an overlap of viewership. The more urban shows like Fear
Factor and Sajid's Superstars were placed at 10 pm.
More specifically, we knew there was a vacuum, particularly among the
Gujarati viewers, in the 8.30 pm slot after the exit of Kasauti. We placed Jai
Shri Krishna (JSK) in that time slot. we worked out such micro details while
planning our programming grid.
When Star Plus launched Kaun Banega Crorepati, it built lead-in slots. Wasn't
your strategy different in that your showpiece programme Khataron Ka
Khiladi was at 10 pm while the other main shows were before that?
We couldn't have launched Khataron Ke Khiladi at 9 pm; it had to be 10 pm. It
was our differentiator show and Akshay Kumar gave it the scale.
Our first task was to get noticed, invade into single TV households in prime
time, and shake up the house. Outside this, we built slots through a different
kind of programming slant. Balika Vadhu, for instance, was a family drama
based on child marriage and carried a social message. What followed was the
lead-in concept. We now own 8-9 pm and 10-10.30 pm.
Any specific strategy for timing the launch of Colors on 21 July?
Since IPL (Indian Premier League) was in April-May, we knew it would disrupt
GEC viewership. We saw that as an opportunity to launch Colors post-IPL. It
was also 2-3 months before the Diwali season, a hot time for advertisers. That
gave us a window to settle in.
The market talks of Rs 800 million as your distribution cost for the first year?
Without getting into figures, let me tell you that we took a conscious decision
to take space on cable networks next to Star Plus and Zee TV. That outlet was
reasonably expensive, but it gave us strategic reach.
Why did you decide on TheOneAlliance to distribute Colors when it turned pay?
Besides the monetary offer (rumoured to be Rs 3 billion over three years for
the Viacom18 channels of Colors, MTV, Nick and VH1), it was the IPL that
swung the deal in favour of TheOneAlliance. Since we turned pay on 1 April
and the IPL kicked off on 18 April, it was a good window to make the transition
and yet not see impact on the ratings.
Will there be any revenue inflow from subscription this fiscal or will it be offset
against carriage fees?
We may not see any net gain from pay revenues this fiscal, but we have a step
up plan and the second and third years would be crucial. For the first six
months, in fact, what we payout will be more than what we collect. If the cable
operator switches us off, he will stand to lose more. This will act as a
disincentive for him to switch us off. Importantly, we have done almost 80 per
cent of the cable deals.
Is Colors planning to spread its wings outside India?
We will be launching in the US within 3-6 months. We then plan to reach Dubai
before we land in the UK. International revenues fall straight into the
bottomline.
Colors has also opened up syndication revenues with JSK being licensed to Raj
TV. How aggressive will you be on this?
We are looking at syndicating our other shows like Balika Vadhu. We are
getting queries from Doordarshan and other networks for some of our content.
We are also eyeing the global syndication market. But we have to be careful
and conscious that this doesn't jeopardise our beam syndication plans.
Will Viacom18 launch a Hindi movie channel and enter into regional language
channels?
Before diversifying into new products, we want to build on Colors. We want the
international distribution and market to stabilise before we launch anything.
We will prioritise then, based on which is the most growing pocket - a Hindi
movie channel or regional channels. That is a call we will take at that stage.

4
23 sep 2010 Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd, an equal joint venture between Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA
and VIA.B) and Network18, one of India’s leading entertainment conglomerates, announced the
launch of its flagship channel, COLORS, in the Middle East in a press conference held at Majlis Al
Mina Ballroom, Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai. Rajesh Kamat, Colors CEO, Abdel Ghani Ali, CFO, Arab
Media Corporation, Sonia Huria, Colors Senior Manager — Communications were present at the
event.

After successful launches in the US, the UK, and Australia — New Zealand, COLORS now aims to
entertain the widespread South Asian community residing in the Middle East & North Africa with its
popular fiction series, reality shows and blockbuster Bollywood films. Additionally, the channel is
also looking at capturing the local Arab and Arab expat audience, particularly the young generation
that is familiar with Bollywood entertainment. It will be available as part of all three Asian packages
offered by ADD — Pehla Basic, Pehla Silver and Pehla Gold.
Rajesh Kamat, Group COO — Viacom18 and CEO — COLORS, said: “It is a matter of pride
for us that in a short duration of two years, COLORS has not only become India’s favourite
entertainment destination but is on its way to replicate its success in other key markets as well.
After our successful launch in the US and the UK this year, we are pleased to partner with Arab
Digital Distribution to offer the best of family entertainment to our viewers in the Middle East. The
launch is part of Viacom18’s aggressive growth plans to extend our flagship brand outside India.”
Commenting on the partnership with Viacom18, Abdel Ghani Ali, CFO, Arab Media
Corporation (AMC), the parent company of ADD said: “With the addition of COLORS to the
Pehla bouquet, ADD is further strengthening its position as the regional market leader. Over the
years, ADD has consistently added some of the best known Asian television channels to its Pehla
bouquet, thus catering to the varied and ever evolving media needs of its customers. COLORS
certainly adds a greater depth to the general entertainment quotient of the Pehla bouquet.”
“The tie-up with ADD offers enormous strategic advantage to COLORS as the channel will leverage
Pehla’s established audience franchise across the MENA region,” added Mr. Ghani.
Viewers in the Middle East now will be able to watch the most popular Indian fiction shows
including Balika Vadhu, Uttaran, Laagi Tujhse Lagan and Naa Aana Iss Des Laado on
the same day as the Indian telecast. They can look forward to an exciting line up of big ticket reality
shows including Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi x 3, hosted by Bollywood’s reigning
queen,Priyanka Chopra and Bigg Boss Season 4 featuring the most wanted
superstar, Salman ‘Dabangg’ Khan on the channel.

Priyanka Chopra with participatns of Fear Factor: Khatron Ke

Khiladi x 3

A Bollywood extravaganza awaits them as COLORS readies to premiere the latest and the biggest
Hindi blockbuster films in the months to come. The exciting movie line-up on the channel
includes Akshay Kumar starrer, Khatta Meetha and Tees Maar Khan; Salman Khan’s mega-
blockbuster, Dabangg; Ajay Devgn’s gritty thriller, Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai;Sanjay
Leela Bhansali’s much awaited, Guzaarish featuringHrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai; Priyanka
Chopra’s Saat Khoon Maaf; Sonam Kapoor starrer, Aisha and Abhishek Bachchan-Deepika
Padukone starrer Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey, amongst others.
vv

5 At some point in the course of any conversation, Rajesh Kamat and this writer share an
exchange that usually goes like this:

Him: Explain to me again what you have against Balika Vadhu.

Me: Child marriage cannot be entertainment. It’s exploitation of India’s dark side.

Show business: Kamat says his team enjoys thinking out-of-the-box.

Jayachandran / Mint

Today, antiques and artwork surround Kamat. He’s in Delhi for sales
meetings and is camped at The Taj Mahal Hotel’s luxury Oriental
Suite. I wonder aloud whether Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd, which owns
Hindi general entertainment channel Colors—Indian television’s
biggest success story in the past year— hasn’t been affe-cted at all by
the slowdown. He clarifies that though business is good, he was
upgraded because of a booking mix-up.

“Balika  Vadhu touched a 6 last week,” he tells me about one of

India’s highest rated television shows.

“I tried watching it a couple of days ago. The old lady was fighting
with a man but I couldn’t figure out why. It sounded too
complicated,” I reply.

“Two days ago, you should have loved it! Sugna was getting married and her in-laws had not been
told that she was pregnant,” he says. “What you call complicated was an episodic high.”

Colors turned 1 on 21 July and by now Kamat, the 35-year-old CEO of the channel, is used to
living from week to week. He gets news of the past week’s television ratings 3 or 4 hours after
midnight every Tuesday. “At least four of us are awake, on standby. The information is not going
to change by the morning but we’re used to staying up and it’s too close to call. Besides, there’s
too much passion.” Incidentally, in the latest ratings, Colors scored 308 GRPs, its highest ever.

For the past several months, analysts and industry watchers have been tracking the battle in the
general entertainment channel (GEC) segment so closely, you would think nobody watches
anything else on Indian television. Actually, around one-third of viewers park their remotes in this
space.

Since Colors came on the scene, it’s been vintage David versus Goliath. Nine-month-old channel
climbs all over Star Plus, a channel that has easily dominated for nine solid years. New channel
also aids in the death of thesaas-bahu genre, one that has ruled Indian television through the
2000s. So much so that the longest running show ever, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, goes off
air abruptly. Star Plus replaces it with a reality legal show hosted by the country’s most well-
known policewoman! It’s what Kamat would call disruption, his favourite buzzword from Day 1.

And yet, the championship never rests with any one channel.

Star Plus-Colors-Star Plus-Colors: The two channels wrestle for the top spot every week. Ever so
often, third competitor Zee TV steals the title. The result has been a never-seen-before mix of
fiction and non-fiction programming. And more experiments than you could have imagined in your
wildest dreams.

The next experiment on Colors will be 100%, a “fusion” of fiction and reality based on an
Argentinean format from leading entertainment programmer Endemol. Kamat explains it
asGladiator meets Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the 1996 film starring The
Undertaker? Surely you remember Akshay Kumar mud-wrestling Rekha?).

In the new show, which goes on air next month, 13 combat-show wrestlers from South Africa
(Daredevil, Skull, Ananzi—the Great Khali, too, it is rumoured, but Kamat won’t confirm) will take
on 13 Indian wrestlers, auditioned from local akharas across the country. “They are under the
impression that they are going there for a fight. But they are punching bags, one of them dies and
then 12 of them come together,” he recounts. When he notices my horrified expression, he
repeats: “It’s fiction, the backstory. There are four WWE bouts in every episode, but with a fiction
story around them.”

Kamat is hoping that children and men will get hooked to the weekend show. “Viewers are willing
to experiment and that’s a message that should keep all broadcasters on their toes,” he says.
“Because that means exit barriers are low—change is just a remote up or down.” On weekends,
especially, Kamat is determined to draw the “flirting audiences”, those idle surfers on the prowl for
something new and interesting.

Television is in the eye of such rapid economic and social change that it’s tougher than ever to
figure out what audiences really want. Gut feel is pretty much what drives this guessing game.
These days, “real” fiction works—child marriage, female foeticide, caste and kidnappings are big
sellers. “The desired audience response is: Haan, yeh hota hai,” says Kamat. Translated, these
things really do happen out there in real India.

For Kamat, new India is striving India. The elusive middle class, he believes, is finally visible. “The
income pyramid has become a rhombus because the middle is now jutting out. There’s a
homogenization of needs, but traditional values remain.”

In the months ahead, Kamat’s target (like that of

his counterparts at Star Plus and Zee TV) will be
to ensure that “1 is a clear 1”. His plan? The
channel’s Top 3 fiction shows
(BalikaVadhu,Uttaran and Na Aana Is Des Laado)
must deliver a steady rating of 4-6. Weekend
programming must deliver. Aside from scoring
good ratings, the two forthcoming big-ticket
shows—Khatron Ke Khiladi and Bigg Boss—
should create enough buzz to keep the channel in
the news for at least three-four months. And
finally, Colors will launch its afternoon
programming. There are also plans to launch in
the US and UK in September. In short, Year 2
will, in some ways, be even more stressful than
Year 1.

Looking at the ever-smiling Kamat, it’s difficult to

tell that he is even acquainted with stress. I
know he doesn’t gym or run, because he’s told
me that in a previous meeting. “My daughter
Riddhima is my main leveller in life. When you
see life from this height (he gesticulates), how does it look? That really gets you back to earth,
whatever your level of stress. It doesn’t matter if your rating was 0.3 ahead or 50 behind. If she
wants to make tea in her kitchen set and wants you to drink it, you have to,” he says.

At some point in the course of any conversation, Rajesh Kamat and this writer share an exchange
that usually goes like this:

Him: Explain to me again what you have against Balika Vadhu.

Me: Child marriage cannot be entertainment. It’s exploitation of India’s dark side.

Show business: Kamat says his team enjoys thinking out-of-the-box.

Jayachandran / Mint

Today, antiques and artwork surround Kamat. He’s in Delhi for sales
meetings and is camped at The Taj Mahal Hotel’s luxury Oriental
Suite. I wonder aloud whether Viacom 18 Media Pvt. Ltd, which owns
Hindi general entertainment channel Colors—Indian television’s
biggest success story in the past year— hasn’t been affe-cted at all by
the slowdown. He clarifies that though business is good, he was
upgraded because of a booking mix-up.

“Balika  Vadhu touched a 6 last week,” he tells me about one of

India’s highest rated television shows.

“I tried watching it a couple of days ago. The old lady was fighting
with a man but I couldn’t figure out why. It sounded too
complicated,” I reply.

“Two days ago, you should have loved it! Sugna was getting married and her in-laws had not been
told that she was pregnant,” he says. “What you call complicated was an episodic high.”

Colors turned 1 on 21 July and by now Kamat, the 35-year-old CEO of the channel, is used to
living from week to week. He gets news of the past week’s television ratings 3 or 4 hours after
midnight every Tuesday. “At least four of us are awake, on standby. The information is not going
to change by the morning but we’re used to staying up and it’s too close to call. Besides, there’s
too much passion.” Incidentally, in the latest ratings, Colors scored 308 GRPs, its highest ever.

For the past several months, analysts and industry watchers have been tracking the battle in the
general entertainment channel (GEC) segment so closely, you would think nobody watches
anything else on Indian television. Actually, around one-third of viewers park their remotes in this
space.

Since Colors came on the scene, it’s been vintage David versus Goliath. Nine-month-old channel
climbs all over Star Plus, a channel that has easily dominated for nine solid years. New channel
also aids in the death of thesaas-bahu genre, one that has ruled Indian television through the
2000s. So much so that the longest running show ever, Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, goes off
air abruptly. Star Plus replaces it with a reality legal show hosted by the country’s most well-
known policewoman! It’s what Kamat would call disruption, his favourite buzzword from Day 1.

And yet, the championship never rests with any one channel.
Star Plus-Colors-Star Plus-Colors: The two channels wrestle for the top spot every week. Ever so
often, third competitor Zee TV steals the title. The result has been a never-seen-before mix of
fiction and non-fiction programming. And more experiments than you could have imagined in your
wildest dreams.

The next experiment on Colors will be 100%, a “fusion” of fiction and reality based on an
Argentinean format from leading entertainment programmer Endemol. Kamat explains it
asGladiator meets Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the 1996 film starring The
Undertaker? Surely you remember Akshay Kumar mud-wrestling Rekha?).

In the new show, which goes on air next month, 13 combat-show wrestlers from South Africa
(Daredevil, Skull, Ananzi—the Great Khali, too, it is rumoured, but Kamat won’t confirm) will take
on 13 Indian wrestlers, auditioned from local akharas across the country. “They are under the
impression that they are going there for a fight. But they are punching bags, one of them dies and
then 12 of them come together,” he recounts. When he notices my horrified expression, he
repeats: “It’s fiction, the backstory. There are four WWE bouts in every episode, but with a fiction
story around them.”

Kamat is hoping that children and men will get hooked to the weekend show. “Viewers are willing
to experiment and that’s a message that should keep all broadcasters on their toes,” he says.
“Because that means exit barriers are low—change is just a remote up or down.” On weekends,
especially, Kamat is determined to draw the “flirting audiences”, those idle surfers on the prowl for
something new and interesting.

Television is in the eye of such rapid economic and social change that it’s tougher than ever to
figure out what audiences really want. Gut feel is pretty much what drives this guessing game.
These days, “real” fiction works—child marriage, female foeticide, caste and kidnappings are big
sellers. “The desired audience response is: Haan, yeh hota hai,” says Kamat. Translated, these
things really do happen out there in real India.

For Kamat, new India is striving India. The elusive middle class, he believes, is finally visible. “The
income pyramid has become a rhombus because the middle is now jutting out. There’s a
homogenization of needs, but traditional values remain.”

In the months ahead, Kamat’s target (like that of

his counterparts at Star Plus and Zee TV) will be
to ensure that “1 is a clear 1”. His plan? The
channel’s Top 3 fiction shows
(BalikaVadhu,Uttaran and Na Aana Is Des Laado)
must deliver a steady rating of 4-6. Weekend
programming must deliver. Aside from scoring
good ratings, the two forthcoming big-ticket
shows—Khatron Ke Khiladi and Bigg Boss—
should create enough buzz to keep the channel in
the news for at least three-four months. And
finally, Colors will launch its afternoon
programming. There are also plans to launch in
the US and UK in September. In short, Year 2
will, in some ways, be even more stressful than
Year 1.
Looking at the ever-smiling Kamat, it’s difficult to tell that he is even acquainted with stress. I
know he doesn’t gym or run, because he’s told me that in a previous meeting. “My daughter
Riddhima is my main leveller in life. When you see life from this height (he gesticulates), how does
it look? That really gets you back to earth, whatever your level of stress. It doesn’t matter if your
rating was 0.3 ahead or 50 behind. If she wants to make tea in her kitchen set and wants you to
drink it, you have to,” he says.

6Colors' CEO Rajesh Kamat talks about IPL-Colors tie

up 
By Subhash K. Jha, January 22, 2010 - 17:34 IST 

The Indian Premier League's tie-up with the television channel Colors promises to
have much greater repercussions than outwardly visible.

Speaking exclusively to us during the press conference to announce the IPL-

Colors tie-up, Colors' CEO Rajesh Kamat revealed plans of an IPL-Colors awards
night on April 23 bringing together the biggest names in the cricketing and film
world. 

Says Kamat, "So far we've seen glamor at awards functions. This is the first time
that the glamour from two different entertainment industries cinema and cricket,
will be merged." 

The idea is to jointly upstage the film awards by hosting an 'IPL Awards Nite' where super-celebrities from the
movies and cricketing fields would join together. 

When asked to reveal more details, Kamat said, "It's early to discuss details of the awards night. It would be one
among several major tie-ups with the IPL that our channel has planned. The first of these collaborations is to
bring 14 cricketers from the IPL on our reality show 'Fear Factor'." 

The 14 cricketers' names are yet to be short-listed. Adds Kamat, "After doing Bigg Boss, with Mr. Bachchan our
channel was wondering how to take the unexpected ahead. The IPL-Colors tie-up is an attempt to break the
notion that cricket and television are only compatible for the telecast of matches. We want to use the star status
of cricketers on our channel in permutations that are unpredictable."

7 When Colors was launched this day last year, messrs Raghav Bahl, Haresh Chawla and Rajesh
Kamat of Network18 were repeatedly asked: do you think there is space for yet another general
entertainment channel (GEC) in India? It had seemed like they were late entrants trying to
squeeze into a narrow window of opportunity that may have existed to wrest for oneself a part of
the sizable ad dollars that find their way to GEC channels. GECs get the single largest share of the
television ad pie—that is some Rs2500 crore in total ad spends of Rs8000 crore.

See more of our latest Network18 coverage.

The odds were heavily against them. To begin with, there were the giants—Star Plus, Zee and
Sony—who, between them, had controlled the entertainment space and seemed to have set into a
comfortable equillibrium in rankings and revenue albeit occasional swings in fortunes. For any new
channel, the economics wouldn’t work. For one, existing GECs enjoyed splendid subscription
revenue. Roughly half of revenues came from subscription—give or take 10%—for any of these
channels. Subscription revenue is a function of the demand for a channel’s content. The more
houses demand Star Plus from their local cable operator, the more cable networks carry the
channel and this results in more subscription revenue. A new channel would have no subscription
revenue because there is no demand for its content. Yet.

What makes it worse: the media boom over the past 5-6 years had clogged the analog cable pipes
that carry satellite television across this vast country. There were now far more channels than
what a conventional coaxial cable could carry. Cable networks decide which channel is carried on
which band. Millions of old TV sets in India supports only 10-15 channels. This means, to be able
to serve those customers, a cable network had to put your channel on the so-called prime band.
The supply-demand balance tilted against the channels and a new phenomenon, where channels
paid the cable networks to be carried (and carried favourbaly), arose. It came to be known as
carriage fee.

Quarter after quarter, the ‘marketing and distribution’ overhead on TV channel balancesheets
started bloating uncontrollably. Channel bosses were suddenly at the mercy of cable networks,
some of whom milked the situation dry by renegotiating contracts every quarter. So when Colors
launched, the cost situation was looking precarious—in addition to content costs, you had to pay
through your nose to be on prime band, which you had to, even to stand a chance in the ratings
race.

On the revenue side, the situation was more straightforward. Spend on programming. If viewers
like the programming, media buyers would loosen the purse strings. This meant you had to spend
as much as the market leader. We are talking about a total cost line of Rs450-600 crore a year.

So you had to spend more than the market leader, but you could aim for only half his revenues. As
one network boss hubristically told this reporter at the time: “Please try to understand. They are
trying to compete with us with one hand tied at the back. They can never win”. He was referring to
the crop of new channels that wouldn’t have any subscription revenue.

Then there was the matter of other new competitors. Two new channels, set up by formidable
operations, had come on air in preceding months, and had tasted some early success. Both were
headed by celebrated executives—former Star India CEOs Peter Mukerjea and Sameer Nair. In
comparison, the 35-year old Rajesh Kamat, who Network18’s Bahl and Chawla hired from content
shop Endemol to head Colors, was a minion.

Mukherjea’s company, INX Media, was funded by a bunch of private equity firms, including
Singapore government’s Temasek Holdings. Nair was hired by a joint venture between NDTV and
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE). INX Media’s 9X had launched in November 2007 and Nair’s channel,
NDTV Imagine, in January 2008. Imagine rode high on its bet on mythological series Ramayan. 9X
tasted some early success with a mix of soaps and reality shows. They had already formed the tier
2 of GECs. It was then, that Network18 was launching yet another channel with partner Viacom
(NYSE: VIA) and were asked, quite naturally, if there was space for yet another channel.
In the months that followed, Colors shook the television space. It breached Star Plus’ decade-old
leadership and infused real competition into a market that was a virtual oligopoly. Once Colors
demolished Star Plus’ invincible aura, Zee TV, which has been trying to beat that channel for nine
years without success, suddenly was able to achieve the impossible.

Colors took some audacious bets in content. While it was believed that Indian audiences liked
nothing better for entertainment than domestic politics between a new bride and her mother in law
in extravagant settings, Colors’ flagship soap featured a child bride in rural Rajasthan. Primetime
entertainment with a social message! Success of this one soap—Balika Vadhu—empowered
programming heads to ditch formulaic content and try out new and diverse themes (Little known
factoid—Balika Vadhu‘s script was written many years ago and it had done the rounds of many
channels before Colors decided to commission it). Viewers are better off for this. There is more
diversity even in the reality show formats that are being imported to India.
Even before it completed a year, Colors went pay from free-to-air, and ratings didn’t drop. There is
now a very narrow gap between the ad rates of Colors and Star Plus, media planners say. In
essence, in one year, Raghav Bahl added a full fledged entertainment channel—a future corner
stone if you will—to his media conglomerate. What it has proved, however, should be Colors’
biggest lesson—don’t take your viewers for granted. Every week it spends away from the No.1
position will make it that much harder to make the advertiser accept its leadership. 

Most importantly, Colors’ success is a cautionary tale for all media players—startups and leaders
alike. Indian media consumers are willing to try out new products and even embrace them. Your
platform—channel or newspaper or website—might be a legacy property, but consumers don’t
discount for that if a nimble-footed competitor serves up better content on a new platform. Odds
might be stacked up against a startup, but it is also likely to take more risks and those might
prove disruptive to the space you operate in. And, there’s always room for competition.

When Colors was launched this day last year, messrs Raghav Bahl, Haresh Chawla and Rajesh
Kamat of Network18 were repeatedly asked: do you think there is space for yet another general
entertainment channel (GEC) in India? It had seemed like they were late entrants trying to
squeeze into a narrow window of opportunity that may have existed to wrest for oneself a part of
the sizable ad dollars that find their way to GEC channels. GECs get the single largest share of the
television ad pie—that is some Rs2500 crore in total ad spends of Rs8000 crore.

See more of our latest Network18 coverage.

The odds were heavily against them. To begin with, there were the giants—Star Plus, Zee and
Sony—who, between them, had controlled the entertainment space and seemed to have set into a
comfortable equillibrium in rankings and revenue albeit occasional swings in fortunes. For any new
channel, the economics wouldn’t work. For one, existing GECs enjoyed splendid subscription
revenue. Roughly half of revenues came from subscription—give or take 10%—for any of these
channels. Subscription revenue is a function of the demand for a channel’s content. The more
houses demand Star Plus from their local cable operator, the more cable networks carry the
channel and this results in more subscription revenue. A new channel would have no subscription
revenue because there is no demand for its content. Yet.

What makes it worse: the media boom over the past 5-6 years had clogged the analog cable pipes
that carry satellite television across this vast country. There were now far more channels than
what a conventional coaxial cable could carry. Cable networks decide which channel is carried on
which band. Millions of old TV sets in India supports only 10-15 channels. This means, to be able
to serve those customers, a cable network had to put your channel on the so-called prime band.
The supply-demand balance tilted against the channels and a new phenomenon, where channels
paid the cable networks to be carried (and carried favourbaly), arose. It came to be known as
carriage fee.

Quarter after quarter, the ‘marketing and distribution’ overhead on TV channel balancesheets
started bloating uncontrollably. Channel bosses were suddenly at the mercy of cable networks,
some of whom milked the situation dry by renegotiating contracts every quarter. So when Colors
launched, the cost situation was looking precarious—in addition to content costs, you had to pay
through your nose to be on prime band, which you had to, even to stand a chance in the ratings
race.

On the revenue side, the situation was more straightforward. Spend on programming. If viewers
like the programming, media buyers would loosen the purse strings. This meant you had to spend
as much as the market leader. We are talking about a total cost line of Rs450-600 crore a year.

So you had to spend more than the market leader, but you could aim for only half his revenues. As
one network boss hubristically told this reporter at the time: “Please try to understand. They are
trying to compete with us with one hand tied at the back. They can never win”. He was referring to
the crop of new channels that wouldn’t have any subscription revenue.

Then there was the matter of other new competitors. Two new channels, set up by formidable
operations, had come on air in preceding months, and had tasted some early success. Both were
headed by celebrated executives—former Star India CEOs Peter Mukerjea and Sameer Nair. In
comparison, the 35-year old Rajesh Kamat, who Network18’s Bahl and Chawla hired from content
shop Endemol to head Colors, was a minion.

Mukherjea’s company, INX Media, was funded by a bunch of private equity firms, including
Singapore government’s Temasek Holdings. Nair was hired by a joint venture between NDTV and
NBC Universal (NYSE: GE). INX Media’s 9X had launched in November 2007 and Nair’s channel,
NDTV Imagine, in January 2008. Imagine rode high on its bet on mythological series Ramayan. 9X
tasted some early success with a mix of soaps and reality shows. They had already formed the tier
2 of GECs. It was then, that Network18 was launching yet another channel with partner Viacom
(NYSE: VIA) and were asked, quite naturally, if there was space for yet another channel.
In the months that followed, Colors shook the television space. It breached Star Plus’ decade-old
leadership and infused real competition into a market that was a virtual oligopoly. Once Colors
demolished Star Plus’ invincible aura, Zee TV, which has been trying to beat that channel for nine
years without success, suddenly was able to achieve the impossible.

Colors took some audacious bets in content. While it was believed that Indian audiences liked
nothing better for entertainment than domestic politics between a new bride and her mother in law
in extravagant settings, Colors’ flagship soap featured a child bride in rural Rajasthan. Primetime
entertainment with a social message! Success of this one soap—Balika Vadhu—empowered
programming heads to ditch formulaic content and try out new and diverse themes (Little known
factoid—Balika Vadhu‘s script was written many years ago and it had done the rounds of many
channels before Colors decided to commission it). Viewers are better off for this. There is more
diversity even in the reality show formats that are being imported to India.
Even before it completed a year, Colors went pay from free-to-air, and ratings didn’t drop. There is
now a very narrow gap between the ad rates of Colors and Star Plus, media planners say. In
essence, in one year, Raghav Bahl added a full fledged entertainment channel—a future corner
stone if you will—to his media conglomerate. What it has proved, however, should be Colors’
biggest lesson—don’t take your viewers for granted. Every week it spends away from the No.1
position will make it that much harder to make the advertiser accept its leadership. 

Most importantly, Colors’ success is a cautionary tale for all media players—startups and leaders
alike. Indian media consumers are willing to try out new products and even embrace them. Your
platform—channel or newspaper or website—might be a legacy property, but consumers don’t
discount for that if a nimble-footed competitor serves up better content on a new platform. Odds
might be stacked up against a startup, but it is also likely to take more risks and those might
prove disruptive to the space you operate in. And, there’s always room for competition.