Sony’s current phase is just transitory.

With Sony Entertainment Television’s (SET’s) faltering TVRs and SET Pix’s distribution issues, one would have thought that NP Singh, COO, SET India, would have worry lines furrowing his brow. Instead, one is pleasantly surprised to find Singh in a calm, affable frame of mind, ready to tackle any question that comes his way.

Singh joined SET India in 1999 as its chief financial officer. He went on to take the reins of the channel in his hands as the network’s COO in 2005.

Armed with a Master’s degree in Commerce, Singh started his career in 1981 at Hindustan Copper Ltd. He began there as a management trainee and soon climbed up to the post of a senior accounts officer. In 1988, he moved to Modi Xerox and went on to become the controller of business operations there. After spending three years managing the finances of the telecom business of ModiCorp (which included a one-year stint as CFO at Spice Telecom), Singh joined SET India.

In a conversation with Prajjal Saha and Devina Joshi of agencyfaqs!, Singh reveals his future plans for SAB TV, Max and the more recent Pix. He also highlights his plans for setting things right at the mother channel, Sony Entertainment Television (SET)...

Edited Excerpts

According to me, it’s just a transitional phase, something that every channel or, rather, organisation goes through at some point of time or the other.

After two successful reality shows, we are now getting back to fiction. We strengthened our Friday line-up with a branded slot, ‘Shukra Hai Shukravaar Hai’, which has had a fair response. Then we focused on the prime-time band on weekdays with two new shows, ‘Aisa Des Hai Mera’ and ‘Thodi Khushi Thode Ghum’.

Following on their heels were two new shows, ‘Kabhie To Nazar Milao’ and ‘Rishton Ki Dorr’, in the 1-2pm afternoon band, which we branded as ‘Nayi Dopahar’.

All these shows have had a reasonable start and we are confident that the channel will only grow from here.

The point I’m trying to make is that when a channel does so much all at the same time, there’s always a mixed dose of success. Personally, I feel that we just need to give these programmes some more time to prove their success.

I wouldn’t put it as an ‘either/or’ situation. Yes, if it was a race, I would have agreed with you. But here, these are two businesses and I would not like to get into this debate on which one performed better.

Each business adopts different strategies and also goes through various ups and downs. We banked on reality shows, which performed well for us; Zee went ahead and launched two new fiction shows during its prime time, which eventually gave it a head start. These shows have been around for quite some time and they had the advantage over us. But now that SET has also got back to fiction and launched two new shows, it won’t be long before it gets back its earlier position. As I said before, we just need some time to let these new shows stabilise and they are sure to perform better.

No, I don’t mean that. When SET launched ‘Indian Idol’, it was a novel idea and, therefore, a huge success. It was a great idea then, but I will also say that we have realised that a judicious programming mix needs all kind of shows, be it comedy, fiction, drama, suspense or reality.

I agree that while ‘Indian Idol 2’ was not as successful as ‘Indian Idol’, it did deliver reasonably decent TVRs for SET. So, I wouldn’t say that the strategy has backfired.

We have to realise that non-fiction programming is finite. There’s always the question, ‘What next?’

It isn’t as though only SET hit a rough patch with non-fiction programming. Other channels are also going through a similar phase.

As of now, these are just rumours because, currently, we do not have any concrete plans to launch these two shows. If, and I repeat, if, we do decide to bring these two shows back on the channel, it will be at an appropriate time, which is certainly not in the near future.

Even if we are into fiction, what make us different from the rest are concepts and our way of telling a story. SET’s drama is always unique, contemporary and close to life.

I will give you a few examples. The storyline of ‘Vaidehi’ explores the problems faced by a middle class girl who marries into a rich household, while that of ‘Thodi Khushi…’ is about Sneha, who fights for women’s empowerment in a joint family, keeping the family’s traditional values in mind. Similarly, ‘Aisa Des…’ has the unique concept of an NRI girl finding her way back to her roots. ‘Rishton Ki Dorr’, in the afternoon time band, explores sibling bonding. There again, there’s a different storyline. These stories and concepts have never been explored before on Indian television.

Even in the past, we have successfully explored stories of single women protagonists, be it ‘Kkusum’, ‘Heena’ or the hugely popular ‘Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin’. These shows were undoubtedly different from their contemporaries on Indian television.

Having said that, I would like to add that we are not just banking on fiction and drama. We also have thrillers such as ‘CID’, which, incidentally, is one of our best performing programmes. We have another thriller in the pipeline right now.

We also had shows such as ‘Fear Factor’, which just completed a successful run. ‘Fear Factor’ is now being replaced by ‘Boogie Woogie’, which again has been one of the most successful shows on Indian television.

SET will also roll out three light-hearted shows soon. So, you see, we will soon have a healthy mix of programming.

I don’t think that’s the case. These changes haven’t really affected Sony too much because its top management has always been in place. This top management has helped Sony carry its strategies forward. Kunal Dasgupta has been on board; I myself have been with SET India for the last seven years.

When Sunil (Lulla) got into a new role with Times Now, I went on to become the COO of SET India. In the last two years, we have found a strong head of programming in Tarun Katial, who went on to become the business head of the channel. After Tarun moved out, I guided the team that was working under him. This team has been with SET for the last ten years.

In fact, the programming strategy that we have unfolded now was all devised a good six months ago. In a sense, we have consciously strategised over a period of time in a manner that can sustain any changes in leadership in the organisation.

Only a good mix of the two can do the trick. If the marketing is effective, sampling will happen, and if the content isn’t good enough, all the marketing efforts will be futile. The viewer will then reject the show. Similarly, good content goes waste if it is not marketed well.

We will continue to dish out innovative marketing and content and, soon, we will get back into our rightful place.

You’re right about the likes of MTV and Channel [V] no longer representing the youth of today or, rather, the Remix Generation. Young Indians today want to find their own individuality and believe strongly in themselves, but, at the same time, they are rooted firmly to their traditional values. The film, ‘Rang De Basanti’, captured this insight perfectly. ‘Indian Idol’, too, became a phenomenon with the youth all over the country because it gave them a sense of fulfilling their dreams. Look at the results. A guy from a small town like Bikaner became the second Indian Idol. This has led to a high aspirational value among Indian youth. Therefore, I think Sony is still a channel that communicates with 15-24 year olds.

In fact, our protagonist from ‘Thodi Khushi…’ is a perfect representative of the Remix Generation. She will fight for what is right, without disrespecting the older generation. Even though this show is in a family setting, it appeals to the youth.

Our other shows such as ‘CID’ and ‘Boogie Woogie’ also attract a majority of youthful viewers. And some of our future launches have been conceptualised, keeping in mind the unique needs of the youth.

Our primary objective behind acquiring the brand, SAB TV, was to have another GEC channel to complement Sony’s positioning. SAB TV has helped us consolidate our network’s viewership base. We have positioned SAB TV as a light-hearted GEC, which appeals to the growing group of middle class Indians. But if one looks carefully, comedy is still central to its character – shows such as ‘Yes Boss’, ‘Office Office’ and ‘Wah Wah!’ prove that.

And it’s not just slapstick comedy, there’s a humorous undertone to SAB TV’s programming. We’ve launched new shows, too, such as ‘Lo Kal Lo Baat’. But, perhaps, that particular one wasn’t quite able to meet our expectations for the simple reason that it was probably ahead of its time. Viewers needed a little more understanding of its deep, intellectual humour, which, unfortunately, didn’t happen.

Another of our new shows, ‘Twinkle Beauty Parlour’, uses humour quite subtly. Even though it’s not an out and out comedy, it is a light-hearted drama which fits in well with SAB TV’s positioning. And our yet to be launched show, ‘Left, Right, Left’, will explore how people from different walks of life accidentally end up joining the military forces. In fact, from July 2006 onwards, we will introduce a branded comedy block, with four new weekly shows in the 8:30-9pm band. While ‘Yes Boss’ will air on Mondays, the new ones will follow on the other weekdays. We firmly believe comedy programming works best when it’s weekly.

It’s true that Sony’s TG is 15-34, women, SEC ABC, metros and mini metros, while SAB TV appeals to men and women, SEC BCDE, in mini metros and small towns… the Ambalas and Rai Barelis of India. So, in a sense, yes, SAB TV does give an additional platform for advertisers to address the interiors of India.

While I admit that what you pointed out is bound to happen, SAB TV is by no means a poor man’s advertising vehicle! (Laughs) In fact, there are several instances where the same set of brands is advertised on Sony and SAB TV. But yes, retail advertisers and value purchase categories will definitely choose a vehicle such as SAB TV.

Give us another month and all the major markets will be covered. Since Pix’s launch in April 2006, more than 1,000 boxes have already been rolled out throughout the country. Most parts of Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai have been covered already. We are targeting all the six metros, which will be done completely in a few weeks.

See, any new channel takes time to catch up… new channels from competing networks, too, are taking time to establish themselves.

For the other channels in the genre, recency of the title is of foremost importance, whereas for Pix, what matters most is a great story. With titles such as ‘Kramer vs Kramer’, ‘Jerry McGuire’ and ‘MacKenna’s Gold’, we have a good mix of classics as well as hit movies from the 1990s. I’m not saying that recent blockbusters won’t be a part of Pix, it’s just that great stories will be Pix’s core strength.

We haven’t been marketing Pix aggressively so far. Our strategy is to first ensure good distribution and, once that is in place, we will pitch the channel strongly to advertisers. We will launch off-air promos in three months’ time… Pix will soon be a strong contender in its category.

As I said, blockbuster titles are a part of every movie channel’s strategy. But again, it’s not as though Max is solely dependent on these.

For instance, ‘Dhoom’ premiered on Sony, and not Max, which we would never have done if Max was revolving only around blockbusters. Max has a fair mix of blockbusters and strong titles from the past. A ‘Karan Arjun’ still delivers numbers for Max. I still maintain that no movie channel can depend solely on library products (old movies) or blockbusters. It has to be a good mix of the two.

It’s because SET being a GEC has a higher reach. 75 per cent of television viewership is still with the GECs. However, we also premiere recent titles with a good star cast on Max. But even when we cross-promote the title across the network, the viewership isn’t that high as compared to SET.

This is very unlike cricket, which is another aspect of Max. Cricket is one such property which does well, irrespective of the channel. In fact, we have two big cricket properties lined up on Max, the Champion’s Trophy in October 2006 and the ICC World Cup in March 2007.

Nothing at the moment. No such plans at least in this financial year. We have just launched a new channel, Pix, and our objective is to consolidate our existing properties and help them grow.

If and when we look at expanding our portfolio, it will be in the form of regional channels. But it’s too premature to say anything for sure as of now.

Yes, we are! We do not want to restrict our content to just one single platform. We are open to license our content to other broadcasters as well as platforms, both nationally as well as internationally. Internationally, shows such as ‘Heena’ or ‘Jassi…’ will be made available to them and they will then dub these shows in the required language. We are already in talks with some Middle East countries, such as Israel, on this matter.

Similarly, Dish TV will soon carry our bouquet of channels and we are also open to providing content to other DTH (direct to home) distribution networks such as Tata Sky as and when they are operational.

In addition, we’re getting into the international arena by distributing our bouquet of channels across several countries. Besides, we’re focusing on new, emerging media and technology. We will soon get aggressive on mobile phone content such as mobisodes, singtones of chartbuster songs and mobile games, such as the ‘Deal Ya No Deal’ game.

At present, advertising and distribution contribute almost equally to our revenue pie. But in the future, we are hopeful that distribution revenue will overtake advertising revenue – not just for us, but for all broadcasters. Overall, our new initiatives such as licensing or mobile content will constitute around 10 per cent of our revenues.