Colors takes a U-turn; to revive the afternoon time band

Colors was the first channel to start repeat programming in the afternoon time band, and it also earned loyal viewership for this. Now, the channel is hoping to get in more viewers by launching original programming in the afternoon time band. afaqs! explores

The afternoon time-band on general entertainment channels, which was quite popular a few years ago, had almost become redundant in the last two years. As the number of GECs increased from six to 11, the viewership got further fragmented, and repeat programming replaced original programmes in other time bands.

In fact, it was Colors that started the concept of repeat programming. The move was very much need-based, as the GEC had started with only 24 hours of original programming per week, vis-à-vis other leading GECs, which had 30-40 hours of original programming. This is why Colors focussed mainly on strengthening its prime time band.

Colors takes a U-turn; to revive the afternoon time band

Interestingly, the route worked for the channel and others followed suit.

Now, Colors is changing tracks again and is all set to launch original programming in the afternoon time band. Its new shows, Agnipareeksha Jeevan Ki...Ganga and Aise Na Karo Vida, will air at 1:30 pm and 2 pm, respectively.

Until now, only STAR Plus had original programming in the afternoon time band, with two shows, Tujh Sang Preet Lagayi Sajna and Hamari Devrani. In fact, as per TAM data for December 27, 2009 to January 30, 2010, STAR Plus claimed the maximum share -- 25 per cent -- during the afternoon time band (noon-3 pm). It was followed by Zee TV and Colors, with shares of 18 and 17 per cent, respectively.

Colors claimed an ad rate of around Rs 10,000 for 10 seconds in this time band, without any extra production costs. That made business sense, as the channel earned revenue of around Rs 45-50 lakh every week from this one-hour time slot (1:30 pm-2:30 pm), without any extra expense.

Now, with its two new shows, the channel will have to spend around Rs 50 lakh per week on programming, taking a conservative production-cost estimate of Rs 6 lakh for 30 minutes. This excludes the cost of marketing the shows. What then, has motivated Colors to launch original programming in this time band?

Ashwini Yardi, programming head, Colors, says, "We launched two shows in the primetime in December last year. After firming up our primetime line-up, it was time to shift focus to the other time band. We are looking at taking advantage of the repeat audience that the channel attracts in the afternoons, to initiate sampling of the two news shows."

She informs that the channel has been working on the shows for the last eight months or so. Agnipareeksha Jeevan Ki...Ganga is the story of a girl, who is despised by all due to white patches on her skin. The second show, Aise Na Karo Vida is the story of Reva, who is abused by a prince.

The first reason that media planners and buyers cite, is a straight increase in revenue. Most of them estimate that with original programming, Colors can increase its ad rates in this time slot by at least three times, provided the new shows deliver a TVR of 3+.

This means that if Colors was earning around Rs 50 lakh a week with repeat programming, it can now earn around Rs 1.5 crore every week, with an additional expenditure of Rs 50 lakh.

However, this strategy doesn't seem to be only simple mathematics. Some media observers are of the opinion that there is more to the game.

Certainly, Colors has ambitious plans, and the channel now aims to claim leadership in other time bands as well. Besides, the gap between the top three GECs is narrow and keeps fluctuating. As Hemen Desai, AOR head on P&G at MediaCom, says, "Clear leadership in the afternoon time band could make Colors a clear leader in the weekly GRPs."

The other opinion is that Colors has its bucket full during primetime, and many a times, it has to turn down advertisers. With a strong afternoon band, Colors can now accommodate many more advertisers, and thus, maintain better relationships with them.

Another senior media observer, Sudha Natrajan, president and chief operating officer, Lintas Media Group, says, "Colors had signed many deals when it was not at the top and these were at much lower rates than the channel would expect. Even when the channel increased its GRPs and reached the top, it couldn't increase it ad rates accordingly. But with a strong alternative time band, it can increase its ad rates during primetime and compensate the advertisers with the alternative time band."

It seems Colors could be bang on target even this time, as it has done in the past.

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