Recovery from just one platform like TV is impossible: Enterr10 TV MD

Manish Singhal talks about how did an unknown company from Indore force the Big Four (Star, Sony, Zee, and Viacom18) out of their top spots in general entertainment

Enterr10 Television’s Dangal TV was barely known. Then in 2019, it burst through the television (TV) screen to become the most-viewed channel across the Hindi heartland ahead of Star, Zee, or Colors. Last year, it displaced Sun TV to become the most-viewed channel in India across languages. It now dominates the fastest-growing part of the Rs 69,600 crore broadcasting business — ad-supported, free-to-air TV, with top advertisers such as Hindustan Unilever and Nestlé on board. How did an unknown company from Indore force the Big Four (Star, Sony, Zee, and Viacom18) out of their top spots in general entertainment? It took some effort to get MANISH SINGHAL, managing director of Enterr10 TV, to talk. But talk he did on a Google Meet call from his office in Mumbai with Vanita Kohli-Khandekar. Edited excerpts:

How did Enterr10 TV begin, and how did Dangal TV happen?

Through the late Nineties, we were distributors (of Ayurvedic products, clothing, cosmetics et al) in Indore and the rest of Madhya Pradesh. To help the business grow pan-Indian in 2001, we launched a teleshopping company. We realised pure shopping cannot hold viewers. You need some content on it.

In 2006, we launched a music channel called Enterr10, which was converted into a movie channel in 2008. In the same year, we launched Dangal TV as a mix of repurposed Hindi and Bhojpuri programming since the markets overlap with one another. We had no resources; we didn’t understand Hindi programming.

But direct-to-home or DTH (Dish TV, Tata Play) had already come to India. That helped us get reach in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Jharkhand.

From 2007 or so, we were also on DD Free Dish (state-owned DTH service). This went on until 2016 when we decided to make Dangal TV a Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC).

During 2015-16, we bought the whole library of NDTV Imagine, which included shows like Ramayan; that gave Dangal TV a push. We set up studios in Indore, but making programming in Indore was tough, so we shifted to Mumbai. Crime Alert, our first show, was successful. That is how our GEC journey began.

But Dangal TV shot through the charts in 2019 when the Big Four (Star, Sony, Zee, and Viacom18) pulled their channels off DD Free Dish.

That is correct. We were already working hard and growing. We had hit 80-85 gross rating points and crossed two large networks. In 2019, as soon as the four networks withdrew from DD Free Dish, we became the No. 1 channel.

Did you also benefit from the coming of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) in 2015?

Yes. The TV measurement system shifted from TAM to Barc. And Barc captured rural areas much better. This meant our reach on DD Free Dish and the Hindi heartland was adequately captured.

Did the sudden rise to No. 1 in 2019 surprise you? What changed?

Until 2019, all the agencies and clients, the trade knew us. But our competitors had not noticed us. They did after 2019. Nothing changed for us. We were doing exactly what we did before 2019 — running a 24-hour TV channel.

What changed is the challenges increased because we were No. 1. We started having distribution and placement issues; more money was being demanded.

Where do cable and DTH operators place Dangal TV?

We are usually placed a bit outside the genre. We run all original programming now, but very often they still put us with the channels that offer reruns.

The perception is that Dangal is a library channel.

Not at all. We are a 100 per cent original programming channel with shows like Mann Atisundar topping the charts.

Until 2019, the library (reruns, licensed shows) was 90 per cent of our programming. Now 100 per cent of our programming is original. Once you reach this position, how can you run on a library? In 2012, we launched Dangal 2, which is our library channel.

Has that pushed up your costs?

Yes, it has. But our planning was always that our highest expense should be content because viewers come to watch content. It is now 60 per cent of my revenue (up from 40 per cent in 2021-22). Earlier distribution costs were at that level; that has now gone down to 15 per cent.

What proportion of your Rs 600 crore in revenue (2023-24) comes from Dangal?

About 70 per cent is from Dangal, and the rest is from the other channels.

How much of Dangal TV’s success and reach is due to DD Free Dish? How does its rising auction prices affect your distribution cost?

While DD Free Dish has helped, Dangal TV’s success is because of its content. About 70 per cent of our reach is through DD Free Dish. The auction prices are not rising, but they keep changing the formulae and the way of the auction. And the bidding goes so high that only five to seven channels make money. The bid price for a Hindi GEC in the last auction was Rs 17 crore.

A bulk of your distribution is dependent on DD Free Dish, which is limited to the Hindi heartland. Does that put a cap on expansion?

We have launched Enterr10 Bangla, a dubbed channel — that is our fifth channel. It is already No. 3 in Bengal. This January, Dangal TV entered the UK market, and in four weeks, it has overtaken Zee TV. We thought it would take us a year to do that.

What other markets, languages, or formats are you looking to expand into?

We are planning Dangal Odia and Telugu. Our streaming service is already a year old and doing well with 7 million subscribers.

We are now focused on over-the-top and have started commissioning content for it. Recovery from just one platform (TV) is impossible. You need a multiple media approach with Facebook, YouTube, and subscribers.