Hindi channels use Web 2.0 technologies to widen reach

Hindi general entertainment channels (GECs) are sharpening their focus on the social networking medium. While many shows have fan groups on social media platforms such as Orkut and Facebook, channels are even building Facebook applications to engage audiences.

Sony Entertainment Television, for instance, plans to have a presence on all social networking sites (part of the Web 2.0 experience), expanding from the current Facebook and Orkut accounts (and a few others). Danish Khan, head of marketing, Sony Entertainment Television, says: “We are exploring the creation of special properties through social networking, like quizzes and games modelled around our on-air shows or characters.” The channel’s target audience is broadly 15 to 34 year-olds.

Interaction around characters from its shows and updates on the show is another important agenda for Sony. So, the channel has created a fan base on Facebook for its popular character Mahi, from the show Mahi Ve which has around 75,000 people interacting with the character per week. The channel has also completely recreated its own website, post which, online traffic has gone up by 150 per cent to reach 7-8 lakh hits per week currently.

NDTV Imagine, on the other hand, has a fan base of 2,000 members on Facebook, while on Twitter it has around 1,000 “followers”. At NDTV Imagine, internet is the best medium for reaching out to younger audiences. For its show, Rakhi Ka Swamvar, NDTV Imagine had created a game on Zapak.com, which saw over a million page views in the first week itself. The game itself became the third most-popular game on Zapak.com.

Nikhil Madhok, vice-president of marketing, NDTV Imagine, reasons: “It helps us reach out to international audiences for whom the internet becomes the second most important channel of communication even after the shows are over. While we get lots of feedback on our story line through social networking, especially for our daily soaps, consumer engagement through games is more fruitful for reality shows.”

NDTV Imagine has also uploaded videos of its entire series of popular show Kitni Mohabbat Hai on YouTube, even after the show had ended on the channel, to increase viewership. Facebook, too, has a page of Kitni Mohabbat Hai where visitors can get exclusive content. NDTV’s own website is always linked to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

At Star India, several applications are available on Facebook and Orkut. The company is also focussing on creating extension of its non-fiction shows on social networking sites. Consider this. Star India created Virtual Lie Detector application of its show Sach ka Saamna” on Facebook and Orkut as well as created a microsite for the application on its own website, informed Anupam Vasudev, executive vice-president of marketing, STAR India. Across the three platforms — Facebook, Orkut and its own website — this application was used 9.8 lakh times by around 4.1 lakh people, in two months.

For another show — Music ka Maha Muquabla — Star TV has put up interactive games on Facebook and Orkut, where consumers can build their own team of musicians. Similarly, for another show, Tere Mere Beech Mein, Star India created an online appliacation on Facebook and Orkut, where users can take a test to gauge their similarity (in terms of lifestyle and thought processes) with their favourite stars. This application found 1.2 lakh people playing the game in the first week itself.

Companies and analysts, however, believe that revenues from social networking platform in India have still not started pouring in.

Jehil Thakkar, head of media and entertainment, KPMG, says: “Although it will take a long time for the channels to actually start earning from the online medium and social networking, this is the best way for Hindi GECs to expand and keep their content alive even after popular shows end. Also, it may take a while for India to build something like Hulu.com or any free online video service that offers hit TV shows.”