Viacom18 eyes expansion through genre consolidation

In 2008, Viacom18 Media launched the game-changer Colors and entered the general entertainment channel (GEC) space. Then, the network operated three other channels - Nickelodeon, VH1 and MTV. The success of Colors, coupled with deeper expansion into existing genres and movie production, has helped Viacom18 scale from a Rs 100-crore broadcast network to a Rs 2,000-crore one.

Now, Sudhanshu Vats, group chief executive, Viacom18, plans to consolidate genres through deeper penetration into categories like music and youth, English entertainment and Hindi general entertainment. Vats is the chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry's national media and entertainment panel. "With urbanisation, not only in the geographic sense, but also in terms of attitudes, viewers are becoming more individualistic. This gives scope for networks to focus on segmentation. That is where Viacom18 wants to play. We have started it with the launch of Pepsi MTV Indies," he said.

He added the network was looking at a new genre, regional GEC.

"When you mull entering a genre, you look at three things: (a) Attractiveness of the market in terms of size, gestation period, monetisation opportunities, etc., (b) strategic fit into the existing portfolio and (c) the stage of evolution the network is at. When I look at sport, I do not see us driving any strategic edge and while movie channels provide reach, I have reservations about their commercial aspect," said Vats.

Vats wants the channels' international business to do well. Colors and Rishtey take the network's Hindi GEC to 85 countries. MTV India is in 45 countries. Vats said there was potential to significantly increase this as content finds consumers beyond diaspora markets.

Viacom18 operates its film studio business through Viacom18 Motion Pictures. The studio has had a success rate of 57 per cent across the 30 films it has released.

This year, both its movies Queen and Mary Kom gave over 100 per cent returns. "With talent-led movies, the cost is high and, hence, if there is a loss, it is huge, and if at all there is a profit, it's comparatively small. We realised we were not making the money we would like to on movies that were mounted on such large scales. So, we decided to go for lower-budget movies with strong content," he said.

Viacom18 had launched its live-events business a few years ago. Called Integrated Network Services, it makes up four per cent of the revenues. Vats intends to take this up to 10 per cent.

"There has to be a shift in attitude and people need to start treating media and entertainment from a business-to-consumers' perspective. This means, among others, allowing market forces to decide the pricing of channels. Also, the measurement system needs to become more efficient, representative and transparent. This Broadcast Audience Research Council should be able to do. The industry needs to drive skill development and build capacity in terms of a human workforce," he adds.