CEO Raj Nayak on how the channel is poised at age five, and what it is doing to rewrite history
It is content that differentiates one television channel from another, and one big winner in this regard has been the GEC from the Viacom18 stable, Colors, which zoomed to top position within a year of its launch in July, 2008. Five years down the line, Colors is a vibrant brand with the onus to move from being a strong challenger to leader of the genre, and one man who is confident that it will happen soon is Raj Nayak, CEO of Colors.
On April 18, 2011, when Nayak took charge after the exit of former CEO Rajesh Kamat, the channel had slipped to No. 4 and there was a lot of insecurity in the team. “My first challenge was to boost the team’s morale and get them to accept me as their leader. Just when I was addressing this, our programming head Ashvini Yardi put in her papers,” recalls Nayak, who went on to appoint two separate content heads for weekday and weekend programming, a first for the industry in the GEC space. By then, competitors too had jumped on to the social issues content bandwagon, which was Colors’ original differentiator.
With content directly reflecting on ratings, Nayak brought in freelancer Prashant Bhatt as weekday programming head, and Manisha Sharma from Sony to handle weekend programming. Since then, the channel has experimented with several variations.
Industry observers say that a channel’s content life-cycle, which was seven to eight years earlier, has now come down drastically and the time is right for any channel to grab the limelight. While Zee had brought in the first wave of fresh content in 1992 for viewers fed on a Doordarshan diet, Star Plus had changed the game in 2000 with Kaun Banega Crorepati before Colors brought in a change from the saas-bahu serials to social issues. As Colors is again poised to do an industry first - fiction show 24 with leading Hindi film star Anil Kapoor acting in it - it could well be an opportunity for the channel to take the lead once again.
Interview: ‘I don’t look at the scoreboard’
NO COMPROMISE WITH PROFITABILITY
“Our focus is on profitability,” says Nayak. “We won’t compromise on profitability to become No.1. That is so easy… I just have to put out five big movies, but I don’t want to do that. Our fundamentals are right. We are doing different kinds of shows, and they should all pick up. I had taken a big risk hiring Prashant Bhatt, who had never worked in a television company, to head my content. I sensed that he had something that would click, and it was a risk that I was willing to take.”
Big ticket reality shows such as Bigg Boss, Jhalak Dikla Jha, India’s Got Talent, etc., have become synonymous with Colors, but one tends to forget that most of these shows were first aired on Sony. Nayak says, “People who let the shows go must now be regretful. They did not recognize the horse, but we did; that is the difference. So we have better vision.”
The spends in this space have given rise to the perception that Colors is a big spender, and this affects its profitability. Nayak strongly refutes this to say that the channel, which broke even in its third year, had an overall CAGR growth of over 50% in the last five years and its EBIDTA has grown by 40% year-on year.
Still, the lingering question is, do reality shows justify the high spends and what is the Return on Investment (RoI) for them? Nayak candidly admits that non-fiction programming doesn’t make money, but is important as these shows provide variety. “Such shows have a ruboff effect on the whole brand. Bigg Boss is a cult show; if you take into account its PR value, it would be more than Rs 15-20 crore just in the coverage it garners” adds Nayak.
SOME UPS AND DOWNS
Colors had a very bad season of Big Boss in 2011, following which it was reinvented as ‘parivarik’. “One of the problems we have with our shows is that they are all formated, so you can’t play around. The nature of Big Boss is voyeurism, you can’t take that out, the nature of Jhalak Dikhla Ja is dancing with the stars, and you can’t take that out. So, without changing the context, our challenge was to make Bigg Boss ‘parivarik’ and we did that. Soon, people aged 7 to 70 were watching it. The show was rating better, and this time, we have another new format,” says Nayak. He adds that Bigg Boss Season 7, launching in September, should make people “expect the unexpected”.
As part of its strategy to provide variety, Colors recently introduced a comedy show ‘Nautanki, the Comedy Theatre’ and a crime show ‘Shaitaan, a Criminal Mind’. These formats have worked well for Sony, but as the gamble did not pay off, Colors quickly tweaked its formula, brought in a stand-up comedian and came back in quick time with ‘Comedy Nights With Kapil Sharma’ which opened with good ratings. In addition, it also launched ‘Mrs Pammi Pyarelal’, featuring a man in drag in its evening week-day fiction band, and this time it looks as if the gamble has paid off. Work is also on to revamp its crime show. The other format which the channel experimented with was “Ring Ka King”, a wrestling show, which failed to attract audiences. Media planners say that Colors has a spirit of innovating with content - while some of it hits the bull’s eye, others miss the bus, but the channel manages to create new ground with its experimentation.
BALIKA VADHU, UTTARAN RULE
While reality shows, which command a premium in advertising rates, have hit headlines often, Colors’ original fiction shows Balika Vadhu and Uttaran are still high on the TRP charts. Ashish Bhasin, Chairman India & CEO South East Asia - Aegis Media, says, “Colors has built for itself a niche, where it is associated with big ticket reality shows and high profile one-off events, in addition to its regular programming. These often create specific opportunities for brands to associate themselves with the channel. It’s a space Colors has occupied well for itself.”
On the CSR front, Colors has paid tribute to Jagjit Singh through ‘Yaadon Ka Safar’, and chronicled Yuvraj Singh’s battle with cancer through ‘Zindagi abhi bhi baaki hai’. “These shows do not get you money or ratings, but we get a lot of positive vibes and feedback from our customers, clients and viewers,” says Nayak.
MOVIES: A LOST CHANCE?
Colors had built up an extensive movie library, with an intention to launch a movie channel, however it ended up selling its titles to Star. While the network still looks at a movie channel, insiders feel that the decision to defer the launch was a bad one. Indirectly, this decision has impacted Colors’ strategy on acquiring movie titles. While big blockbuster movies guarantee GRPs, they come attached with a high price tag. The other big GEC players can monetize movies by playing them across their network channels, but Colors is unable to replicate this strategy as it has just one channel in its bouquet. Right now, the channel’s focus is on featuring a lineup of low-budget but ‘different’ movies such as Vicky Donor. While plans for the movie channel are still on the back-burner, Viacom18 is looking to launch the UK brand Rishtey in India, maybe by 2013 end.
WHAT NEXT FROM COLORS?
So, what can we expect from Colors @5? Will it be able to make people sit up and notice it all over once again and shake the space as it steps into its sixth year? What sort of content and programming does Colors believe will work for it going ahead? One show that the channel is heavily banking on is the adaptation of the American show ‘24’, which is slated to hit screens soon. But will the show work? Nayak says, “We are giving it our 100% in terms of production value, shooting, marketing, launch, etc. The launch will be UNfor a TV show. After all that, I will be tense on a Thursday, because I don’t know how it will fare.”
While it remains to be seen if 24 proves to be the game-changer for Colors, for Nayak, the future course right now is simple: consolidate and maintain leadership among GECs, launch Rishtey in India and implement brand extension of Colors. In the words of Prashant Bhatt, the idea is to “add new colours to the existing canvas” of Colors.
FLASHBACK
Colors: The many hues of success
By Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, exchange4media Group
I remember the day when Rajesh Kamat was appointed the head of a new GEC that Network18 was launching with Viacom. It was 2008, though it seems like yesterday. Rajesh even invited me to the press conference at Bangkok to launch the channel, named Colors. When I shared that it was not necessary for me to be present there, he persuaded me with the plea that I was his good luck charm! He was just making me feel good! With then Network18 CEO Haresh Chawla and then Group COO B Saikumar supporting Rajesh all the way, in one year he established Colors as the leader and a serious player in the GEC space. This is significant, as many GECs launched around that time, like Imagine and Real, could not achieve the same success.
Rajesh was the IMPACT Person of the Year in 2009, for establishing channel Colors; the young leader of a young leader channel. In 2011, when he left Colors to join Peter Chernin Associates, Viacom18 roped in the dynamic and affable Raj Nayak as CEO. Raj has since steadied the ship, and is leading Colors to the path of profitability while bringing gravitas to the leading brand and business.
Today, Colors is the biggest channel in Viacom18 and also in Network18, as per revenue toplines. Around this time last year, Viacom18 hired Sudhanshu Vats as its Group CEO. Robert M Bakish, president and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks and chairman of the board of Viacom18 and Raghav Bahl, founder of Network18, have reared a child that is now becoming healthy and starting to entertain others. Like proud parents, they are now busy planning how to make Colors healthier, stronger and making it continue to excel. The Network18 family is indeed lucky to have a baby like Colors!
THE ONE BIG MARKETING CHALLENGE
The environment is ever-changing; we have multiple screens, devices, television sets, accessibility to content almost everywhere. In this complex media environment, doing the basics right and keeping it simple will be the biggest challenge.
Rajesh Iyer, Marketing Head, Colors
WHAT NEXT IN THE DIGITAL STRATEGY
What you have seen now is the first few building blocks of our digital strategy. In the near future we will deploying our full play in the digital front. A large part of our focus will be building our own destination, also our focus will be engagement with our consumer be it social, telephony, gaming or online.
Vivek Srivastava, Digital Head, Colors
SALES STRATEGY VIS-A-VIS OTHER GECs
Inventory is not a commodity and cannot be traded in kilos! The cornerstone of our sales strategy is that we set a price which is correct, keeping many internal parameters in mind, and if we don’t make that cut, given the premium content we carry, we rather not sell!
Simran Hoon, National Sales Head, Colors
THE NEXT WAVE OF CONTENT FOR COLORS
Prashant Bhatt, Fiction Head, Colors, says the focused effort is to keep giving viewers content that can be labelled as a ‘differentiator’. “We defy certain norms that have been set in television in terms of concept, screenplay narratives, execution patterns and also promotions. Viewers have always looked at Colors as being ‘different’ and that’s an image we strive not to let go. Playing safe has never been our motto. Taking well-calculated (and thought of) risks is something that keeps our adrenaline high,” he adds. Manisha Sharma, Non-fiction Head at Colors, says efforts are on to address the changing audience preferences by introducing disruptive content in unique formats that have built stickiness. “From delivering hits with international formats such as Bigg Boss, India’s Got Talent, Khatron Ke Khiladi and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, to bringing popular Bollywood faces on television like Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Priyanka Chopra, Shilpa Shetty, Karan Johar and Kapil to name a few, Colors has given entertainment a whole new meaning. And now, with our upcoming adaptation of the international hit espionage series ‘24’ with Anil Kapoor, Colors is on its way to create a new wave of hybrid entertainment,” she says.
WHAT HAS WORKED AND WHAT HASN’T
WEEKDAYS
Though we strive to keep close to the brand that has been established, that of giving shows with a social message, it’s now time to start thinking of differentiators as others have started copying us. The idea is to now add new colours to our existing canvas. Along with the social dramas and sagas, weekday programming has ventured into the Seasons format, and also comedy as a new genre. Social thrillers were tried in the past, and we will try our hands at that genre again. We have learnt our “do’s and don’ts” and will get into that genre again when the schedule permits.
Prashant Bhatt, Fiction Head, Colors
WEEKENDS
Bringing comedy to the prime time slot with ‘Comedy Nights with Kapil’ has worked for us and ‘Jhalak Dikhlaa Jaa’ has also raced ahead of competition in the prime-time slot. We experimented with crime thrillers like ‘Shaitan’ and scripted reality with ‘Aamna Saamna’; however, our experimenting with such content was not well-received by our viewers. Nonetheless, that has never stopped us from reinventing ourselves. With ‘24’ in the pipeline, we are looking to create a new wave of hybrid entertainment that will have our viewers hooked on to their TV screens.
Manisha Sharma, Non-fiction Head at Colors
(Transcription credit: Saloni Dutta)
Feedback: simran.sabherwal@exchange4media.com
