ZEE Café bets on ‘Page3’ drama; media planners sceptical

It has been almost six months since English general entertainment channel (GEC), ZEE Café, revamped itself with a new logo. But the channel, which mainly depends on re-runs of popular international shows, is yet to capture a significant share in the market.

Close watchers of the industry feel that the channel hasn’t even been successful in influencing advertisers. Neil Chakravarti, senior vice-president and business head, ZEE Café, dismisses this industry opinion as a ‘perception issue’.

He says that categories such as airlines and FMCG are beginning to look promising for the channel. “We can say that with confidence, as the efforts of the revamping will bear fruit by next year. Especially by next October, one will see more compelling content. We are planning to introduce several new shows by next year,” adds Chakravarti.

The channel aims to tap into the sensibilities of 18-40 year olds, falling under SEC AB. As a major part of its programming plans, ZEE Café plans to increase the number of locally produced shows. For the record, ZEE Café has already introduced two local productions this year: ‘After Hours’ and ‘Simply Style’.

But the show that it is heavily betting on is ‘Bombay Talking’: a spin-off on the lifestyles of the ‘Page 3’ types. This drama will go on air from November 19, and will be telecast from Fridays to Sundays in the 10.30 p.m. slot. The show will launch Priyanka Bassi in the lead role, followed by actors Naseer Abdullah, Manoj Biddavai, Shiv Pandit, Major Vikramjit, Anchal Saxena and Aparna Kumar, among others.

“This show is an experimentation effort on our part. We are testing waters with such a show, but we also feel that it should do well. People love to talk about Bollywood and the celebrity culture, and that is the crux of this programme,” says Kartik Chintamani, creative head, ZEE Network.

However, the media fraternity doesn’t seem to be impressed. Kajal Malik, regional director, Optimum Media Solutions (OMS), says, “To be very honest, the viewers that watch English channels these days have probably been abroad, or have relatives abroad. One must understand that with the constant exposure to shows abroad, they are used to watching very high quality programmes with great content. ZEE Café, in order to survive needs to obtain great titles of popular shows that are doing well abroad. The fact that they have the telecast rights for ‘Friends’ is a positive thing.”

Talking about local productions, Malik remarks, “I don’t see such programmes cutting much ice with the viewers. This is because, as I pointed out, viewers want to see more of international formats, and I don’t see how a saga will fit the bill on a channel such as ZEE Café. Local productions such as ‘Koffee With Karan’ and ‘Rendezvous with Simi Garewal’ have done well for STAR World because they were stylish talk shows, as opposed to a typical drama, which one can turn to most other channels for.”

Concurs Debraj Tripathi, general manager, MAXUS, Delhi. He says, “After having seen the initial promos of ‘Bombay Talking’ I personally find the content too bold for a channel such as ZEE Café. A ‘Page 3’ drama would have fared better on Zoom, as opposed to ZEE Café.”

Tripathi is also of the opinion that English GECs as a whole are not doing too well at present. He, however, adds, “On the flip side, ZEE Café has quite good international programming such as ‘Full House’ which is quite popular in India as well. If the channel has decided to venture into local productions, then it will have to ensure that the content is relevant, as well as do some aggressive marketing and promotions, an area where the channel has been lacking.”

For marketing ‘Bombay Talking’, ZEE Café plans to launch hoardings in the major metros, and leverage radio, press, in-channel promos and online advertising. The channel has also launched a website, www.bombaytalking.com, to bring in a greater number of urban viewers.

© 2005 agencyfaqs!