AXN swaps time slots; to launch America's No 2 television show

AXN has decided to swap the time slots of two genres of programming – series and adventure/reality – in preparation for the launch of America’s second most popular show, CSI

"First rule of TV: You're only as good as your time slot." This is Andrew Wallenstein, TV critic for Media Life magazine, writing in October 2000 on CBS' new initiatives - Fugitives and CSI. "The scheduling of a series is an excruciating science…. No producer wants to believe it, but when you take into account great program development and great primetime scheduling, the latter is far more important than the former." So it is for AXN, which has decided to swap the time slots of two of its four genres of programming - series and adventure/reality - from next month in preparation for the launch of America's second most popular show, CSI, in July 2001.

If you recall, AXN, the action-adventure channel distributed and marketed by Sony Entertainment in India, began airing Survivor II earlier this month at 8 pm to promote the reality band. It was backed with a simultaneous launch of three new programmes under the same genre - Ripley's Believe it or Not, Core Culture, and Exploring the Unknown. But it is the series like Silk Stalkings or VIP which have always performed well for AXN. The series are playing at 9 pm currently. Considering the heat being generated currently in the 9 pm slot, AXN has decided to move the series to 8 pm from next month. The reality band will run from 9-10 pm, following which the movies take over.

"The size of audience that the reality band draws is not as much as that attracted by the series," explains an insider. "The belief is also that hard-core reality audience will anyway come in at 9 pm." Series, which gets AXN its highest audiences, will see six new ones added in July. This change in timings was realised about 15 days back and takes effect from next month. Since Star began promoting the 9 pm slot heavily on an appointment-with-KBC approach, Sony unleashed two daily serials on SET and Prime at Nine shows on SET Max. It hasn't been easy for other channels to attract audiences at this time. As a precursor to the CSI and the new timings, the old VIP series will run from 8 pm next month.

CSI, short for Crime Scenes Investigation, is a fast-paced forensic drama. Created by action-movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("Gone in 60 Seconds"), the series focuses on the Las Vegas Criminalistics Department. Airing on CBS currently, it is a property of Columbia Pictures. For the week ending April 15, 2001, it followed Survivor II for the second spot on Network TV ratings in the US. It scored 14.8 per cent, according to Nielsen Media Research, against Survivor II's 16.2 per cent.

AXN is working on ground activities to bolster viewership for its other two genres - movies and adventure/sports. A 10-city action-movie festival kicks off in Chandigarh in the first week of next month and will run till the end of this year. "About 28 movies will be screened in every city," says the source. AXN sponsored two BMX champs for a trip to Hamburg, Germany, this year. It is sending another team to the US this August. AXN is also scouting for sponsors to send a team for the next Eco-challenge to be held in New Zealand. "We are in the process of finalising sponsors," she adds.

AXN's activities, both on and off-TV, should find an interactive contact point on the Internet as soon as it launches the India web site shortly. Last figures from TAM reveal that AXN is catching on among English channels in the late night slot of 10-1230 pm. Among the viewership that stays awake for late-night TV, a significant percentage switches to AXN. Movies at 10 pm and serials with female-heavy casts, like Silk Stalkings, Charlie's Angels and VIP may be a good reason why. Which is why an all-new VIP also returns next month under the Action Babes banner at 10 pm on Wednesdays.

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