Original content fires HBO's India plans

Game of Thrones, its tentpole show, would help its premium HD play on Tata Sky

HBO is moving in to make the most of its library of original content, now that the digitisation drive in top cities is almost complete. While earlier, it used to air its original production late night on its flagship movie channel in India, now the Time Warner-owned network has launched an on-demand service, besides two recent HD channels.

With a global model that depends on subscriptions, HBO has continued to expand internationally (non-US) with double-digit growth, according to Time Warner's results announcements. It is now looking to acquire new premium customers, leveraging its strength of an original library that includes the Game of Thrones, apart from True Detective and Banshee. New content would be added on a monthly basis.

Not only has HBO recently launched its subscription channels, HBO Hits and HBO Defined, it is now adding value to its offerings with the service HBO On Demand.

The original show, The Game of Thrones season 4, will premier in India on April 13, and HBO will make it available on its premium HD channels - HBO Hits and HBO Defined - and on HBO On Demand.

Based on its global subscribed, video-on-demand model, the service is avaliable only to subscribers of HBO's premium channels. It lets viewers access original content aired in the US for free. Indian viewers subscribing to HBO Hits and HBO Defined would be eligible for it.

HBO On Demand also allows for ad-free viewing, so it is not a revenue driver on its own. However, Monica Tata, HBO's South Asia managing director, says, "Globally too, it is an ad-free, subscription-free model. However, since it is an exclusive service for the premium customers, it helps us provide a hook for new premium customers. So that way, indirectly, the service does drive revenues."

HBO has aligned with Tata Sky to launch its value-addition and is in talks with other DTH platforms to take it to more audience. Kishan Cheranda, senior director, network and content distribution, Turner International India, says that HBO is in talks with other platforms for carrying the HBO Premium services. For Rs 99, Tata Sky's HD customers (who have boxes and have subscribed to its HD channels bouquet) would get all three channels of HBO.

Other networks' plans
The other network which has made a move to capture premium audience with innovations in English content is Star India, with its Star World Premiere. Star leverages its partnerships with studios such as ABC, Paramount and Fox Star in the US for the latest shows with minimum lag between US and India's broadcast feed. However, HBO seems to be pre-empting subscriptions on a wider scale with its number of channels and by replicating a VoD (video on demand) model present in mature markets like the US, albeit with content that would click in India.

Other HD channels in the small but premium English content space have not yet built any distinct proposition since they have the same content as the standard definition channels, though much of it is ad free and promise better video and audio quality.

HBO is marketing its premium channels as ad-free too but is differentiating on the basis of content as well. While HBO Hits is a 24-hour channel which indulges the viewers with anchor shows across genres, HBO Original series and latest commercial hits in both English and Hindi, HBO Defined airs the latest Hollywood and Bollywood blockbusters and award-winning HBO originals, ranging from cult classics to critically-acclaimed shows and rare documentaries. It would also air new original HBO shows.

What is in it for Tata Sky
Even as digitisation progresses to lower tier towns, in saturated urban markets, both broadcasters and platforms will be faced with the challenge of retaining consumers. While Star and HBO are working to stay ahead of the curve in premium content, Tata Sky, known for its premium clientele is bolstering its presence in the HD market where it was the first-mover with its set top boxes.

Vikram Mehra, chief commercial officer, Tata Sky says, "We are constantly innovating to provide differentiated services to our customers. The channels a DTH operator provides cannot vary much in the current environment. It is the value-added services which set us apart. The HBO On Demand service fits perfectly with our ideology."

The market estimates it to have more than 1.2 million HD customers out of a subscriber base of 11 million, giving it an advantage in terms of premium channel acquisitions. Besides HBO On Demand, it has the ad-free channel service that aired the recent ICC Twenty-20 World Cup, live content recording and its new Karoake service available only to HD customers.