A movie channel made sense after a successful GEC: Kevin Vaz

While digitisation continues to keep stakeholders busy throughout the country, the Bengali television market stands witness to even greater excitement, with new channels luring viewers with more tempting offerings every now and then. While Zee network launched its Bengali movie channel in the state in September, STAR India followed suit in quick succession with its own Bengali movie channel, Jalsha Movies, on December, 16.

Jalsha Movies will focus on Bengali movie content and will be driven by both advertising and subscription revenue, as it is being launched as a pay channel. The channel has appointed Bengali superstar Dev as its brand ambassador, and sports the tagline, 'Banglar Shobcheye boro cinema hall - Jalsha Movies' (The largest cinema hall in Bengal, Jalsha Movies).

In a conversation with afaqs!, Kevin Vaz, president, ad sales, STAR Network and in-charge, STAR Jalsha, talks about the launch of the channel and the prospects of the market.

Edited Excerpts

It's just a co-incidence that the two channels have been launched so close to each other. Few decisions are taken, based on the evolution of the market. A movie channel made sense after having a successful GEC, STAR Jalsha, in the market for about four years. That's exactly what we did in case of the Hindi television market and Jalsha Movies, too, is a part of the process.

STAR Jalsha has telecast a few of the major blockbusters in the current year. With Jalsha Movies coming in, the blockbusters and premieres will all be shifted to the new channel. The channel is being launched with the premier of the recent movie, Aawara, which was a success at the box office.

We have about 350 movies ready with us. Generally, about 50 fresh movies are telecast in a month, while another 30-40 are repeat telecasts of the same. Having said that, a majority of the movies we have acquired are blockbusters and recent launches, being less than four-five years old. We have partnered with Shree Venkatesh Films, which produces close to 70 per cent of all releases in the Bengali film industry.

The channel will be available on the DTH platform and with all the cable operators in the state. However, the packages for the availability of the channel aren't yet finalised. It will be a pay channel, right from its launch. This will be one of the biggest brands to be launched in the Bengal market.

The network has planned to put up about 400 outdoor sites in the state, along with about 30 spots each day on television across news and music channels outside the network. We have also partnered with a couple of radio stations. There will be heavy marketing on the print platform with publications of the ABP group and Pratibimb. Interestingly, the promos will also run in cinema halls in the state. Later, we will also look at branding activities inside malls and cinema halls.

No. We would like to keep all content exclusive for the STAR network. Currently, all the content that we have is only for the network.

The Bengali cinema industry has grown exponentially in the last three years, which is proof of the increasing consumption of movies. In 2012, there were about 190 releases according to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certificates, depicting a growth of close to 90 per cent over 2009.

However, on the television front, Bengal is the only market that has seen two channels shutting down in the recent past, while not many channels in the market are doing well.

The acquisition costs are definitely increasing, but it still makes perfect business sense. The market is growing fast with respect to advertisers, currently being the Priority One (P1) market for them.

It has witnessed about 30-35 per cent growth over the past three years. Retail advertising is also increasing and all this put together is fuelling the growth of the industry.

Also, given the limited number of cinema halls, television is a major source of movie consumption in the state. C.

Digitisation won't make much of a difference to the sustenance formula of any channel. It will still be driven by strong content in any local market.