How STAR One became a pole star

The case study presentation on STAR One by Ajay Vidyasagar, executive V-P, marketing, STAR India, at the Promax/BDA India 2006 conference, traced the journey of the channel from pre-birth till now, when it has become a popular channel among all age groups. Vidyasagar spoke about the vision with which the channel was created and how it continues to draw new viewers.

The first important observation that he offered was that there was no channel catering to ‘young urban India’, the ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ generation, or the ‘multiplex generation’. This was the target group for which factors such as material success and multiple entertainment options were important.

STAR jumped at this opportunity and came up with a solution that would address the entertainment needs of this generation. Thus was born STAR One with the positioning, ‘Apni tuning jamegi’. The mission perceived by the channel was ‘to create innovative, differentiated programming that ‘talked’ to the urban upscale audiences who were increasingly getting tuned off from television’.

STAR One claims to have reached almost 71 per cent of the population of India within about three months of its launch. With this, urban audiences across India, more so from Mumbai and Delhi, were tuned in to the channel. Another significant inference highlighted by Vidyasagar was that STAR One not only managed to attract the people who viewed other channels regularly (heavy viewers), but also managed to lure the medium and light viewers. The channel developed a loyal audience base in a matter of a few months.

The main reason for the instant ‘tuning in’ of the urban audiences was youthful content such as ‘Remix’, a college campus show. The serial exuded a lot of style and attitude, making it one of the most watched campus shows on television. A tie-up with Café Coffee Day, creation of music albums and live performances by the protagonists all made the show into a phenomenon. It involved the viewers deeply with interactivity such as chat rooms, blogs, discussion forums, video/audio uploads and fan mail.

Other hits from the channel were ‘The Great Indian Laughter Challenge’ and ‘The Great Indian Laughter Champions’, which, the channel officials say, had tremendous reach and viewership. There were other serials, too, such as ‘Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai’, and the popular reality show, ‘Nach Baliye’, the finals of which were watched by 11 million viewers.

Some of the channel’s shows were such a runaway success that Vidyasagar says their next seasons will be rolled out soon. Coming up next on STAR One will be ‘Nach Baliye Dwitiya’, ‘Remix Season 2’ and the ongoing ‘The Great Indian Laughter Champions Dwitiya’.

© 2006 agencyfaqs!