"We'll bring back bigger, better, bolder content"

Despite its rich history in India, broadcasting network Discovery Communications is going through a turbulent time in this market. The network has been looking to go beyond its 'niche' zone and scale up fast. To this end, the leadership has been taking 'content leaps' into realms beyond its mainstay of factual entertainment - the network launched a sports channel DSport and a general entertainment channel Discovery Jeet (now called Jeet Prime). DSport is yet to have its moment of glory and Jeet has all but tanked.

On April 1 this year, Megha Tata took charge as managing director, South Asia, and was handed the responsibility of bringing back the content mojo of the network. Tata, who brings in nearly three decades of industry experience, came in from English business news channel BTVI, where she led the India business.

In the past, she has worked with Star India, Turner International and HBO. From monetising news to helming international content, she knows how to make money in a market like India.

Key channels under the Discovery Communications umbrella include Discovery, Animal Planet, TLC, Discovery Kids, DSport, among others.

The network reported a total revenue of ₹682 crore in FY-18 and ₹410 crore in FY-17. The expenses, too, surged by close to 100 per cent from ₹377 crore in FY-17 to ₹627 crore in FY-18.

According to the Broadcast Audience Research Council India's data for week 24, the network's flagship channel Discovery sits comfortably at the top slot in the infotainment genre, while Animal Planet is at number five. In the lifestyle genre, TLC is at No.3 below Zee's Living Foodz and Network 18's TV 18.

According to analysts, Discovery is the biggest contributor to the network's overall revenue. It's a brand that has survived many transitions and inspires trust.

Meanwhile, in a frank interview with afaqs! Reporter, Tata discusses her priorities and challenges.

Edited Excerpts

Through various avatars, I've experienced and represented all possible genres, but have never run a news network. So, BTVI was a very different role. When Discovery happened, I was the most excited person on the planet. Not just because I'm part of this global organisation, but because of where Discovery is in India right now - Discovery channel has been around for 25 years, Animal Planet has completed 20 years, TLC is 15 years old, Discovery Kids is nearly seven... it's a privilege to lead this network.

I don't necessarily agree with this perception. Discovery has had a very profitable existence in India and we are profitable even now. The distribution and affiliate revenue has been very strong... easily among the better ones in the country if not the best.

The ad sales front has an opportunity to grow further. FCT (free commercial time) has been a challenge - it will always be a challenge and that's not true only for Discovery, but across genres. I think the infotainment genre is very well equipped to bring about branded solutions and branded content propositions to advertisers, and that is where ad sales can grow. Take, for example, our branded content with edtech platform Byju's - we partnered with the brand for a school quiz show "Discovery School Super League", which helped both the app and us reach out to kids. Another branded content tie-up was with Mahindra for 'The Art of Getting Lost' show. We also partnered with the Government of India's Ministry of Tourism to do a show on 'heritage sites' and would like to do more such partnerships with brands and grow our ad sales.

One of the tasks is to bring the original 'Discovery DNA' back to the fore. By that I mean - we had pivoted into some different kind of content, but now we're going back to what Discovery originally stood for. This is true globally as well.

Second, I believe there is a great opportunity in the kids' genre. We will double our investment in Discovery Kids. Third, to survive in this space today, you need to have a digital proposition, so we will focus on our direct-to-consumer play by launching an OTT platform.

Going back to what Discovery originally stood for means bringing back the bigger, better and bolder content, which is in the core DNA of Discovery... content that's in the adventure space. We want to bring it back to the fore of our offering.

We have unbeatable depth of content in our library - about 300,000 hours of content - to which we add almost 8,000 hours every year. So, I think that is really what Discovery will highlight in this market. Over and above that, we want to create bigger IPs for India, of the kind of content that's never been seen before. It must have the 'wow' factor. Some of that will be out in the coming months.

So far, Discovery Kids has been the fastest-growing kids' channel in the country. We'll double our investment in the genre, both in terms of creating more content under our existing IPs, as well as adding more IPs. Our local IP, Little Singham, has been a success and we've managed to do that with about 150-plus episodes; in the coming year we'll double that - it'll probably be one of the largest investments in the animation space for the kids' chapter.

What is inspiring about this genre is - there will always be kids in the country. One always needs to have a proposition for that category of audience. I believe one can use this content very effectively over a period of time, because, see, if a kid grows out of the genre, there is a new kid coming in the genre too... and the same story is relevant for every new kid that enters the genre. Kids' content, therefore, has great archival value. This is what makes the return on investment in animated kids' content high.

Discovery, globally, is moving from linear to non-linear and India will have an integral role to play in that growth story. We plan to launch our OTT platform early next year. It will be an SVOD-cum-AVOD platform on which some content will be behind a paywall, while some will be available for free.

We are very confident about bringing a differentiated proposition, because we're not in the entertainment streaming space where there is a lot of competition. Globally, we have acquired Scripps Networks Interactive. We also have a deal with the BBC.

Recently, we partnered with news aggregator Dailyhunt to launch Discovery Plus (microsite) on which they can access the network's content - all short-form content. Consumers want to watch such content and they want it fast. We got 400 million views in less than four months, and have seven million users per month, on average. There is no better testament to the fact that people need and desire our content. Also, a lot of this traffic is coming from our regional language feeds. So, there is an audience that wants this content in a language of their choice, at their fingertips, and that is something our OTT platform will provide.

Yes, English is for the premium audience; it is sampled by people from the top of the pyramid. But when you go down, then it's about talking to the audience in the manner in which they want to be spoken to. That's why I think 'languaging' of content will play an important role in reaching a larger mass of the country. Regionalisation is the name of the game; everyone is moving in that direction and we are too.

Discovery is already available in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Bangla...and we're adding Kannada, Marathi and Malayalam. In fact, the way we schedule shows for Discovery Tamil is more like one does for GECs, not infotainment channels. So, besides creating language feeds, we will also customise the way we create these shows. This will help grow our presence in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

We cater to men and women between 15 and 40 years. Discovery is skewed towards men, TLC brings in more women, Animal Planet is familyoriented and Discovery Kids caters to kids and their mothers.

I wish I had a positive answer... I think the ability to make that kind of quality of content is a challenge in our country. That's why we have to figure out the best model to make that work, be it by supporting local talent or bringing creators from outside.

Of course, it makes economic sense; these shows travel all over the world. Discovery already did many such shows in India, like 'Breaking Point' (a show about the armed forces). We're making more shows, including a documentary on Divine, the original 'Gully Boy' and a show about Delhi Police.

Discovery, the flagship channel, is the biggest contributor and Kids is one of the fastest-growing ones. We are a little more skewed towards the distribution revenue versus ad revenue at this stage and it is a healthy mix.

We have no intentions of bringing Discovery Jeet into the mix. It will play out its course.

We all know that it's not fully settled... word is it might take a few months. Just like every other player, we, too, were impacted by the change in framework. Ours is a special interest proposition, so, it could have been worse, but we've had a very good uptake across markets. That's proof we're a strong brand. Our price point of '8 for the package was economical and worked in our favour.

While our reach might have suffered a bit, the time spent on our channels went up... which means engagement has grown. The time spent on Discovery went up 25 per cent - testament that it's a loved brand.

(This story was first published in our magazine afaqs! Reporter on July 1, 2o19.)