Panning In On Boom Times - Again

Till a year ago, Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms was producing just six shows. Today, it's got 16 and plans to take on at least six more projects over the next half-year. And once the company goes public later this year bringing in funds to expand studio infrastructure, Kapoor hopes to add two new programmes a month.

Says the 24-year-old creative director, "Right now, I can take on only five-six project over a six-month timeframe; I'd really like to take on 24."

Now take the case of Sri Adhikari Brothers (SAB). Till last year, in keeping with its thrust on retaining programming copyright, SAB was only producing for state broadcaster, Doordarshan. Today, having become a broadcaster itself, it is not only making programmes for its entertainment channel, SAB TV, but has opened the floodgates for competitors. Of the 30 new shows that SAB TV has scheduled, only four to five are produced in-house; the rest are outsourced.

 

It's clearly boom-time again for producers of TV software. In the last three months alone, nearly eight channels from Rathikant Basu's Tara channels in Bengali and Marathi, Eenadu TV's Bengali channel and Zee's Alpha Bengali and Gujarati to general entertainment ones like Sahara TV and SAB TV have come up.

Says Raghav Bahl, managing director, TV18, "There has been a sharp step-up in television software demand since July-August 1999. The impetus is coming from both the new channels as well as from existing channels like Star Plus or Channel V, which are repositioning themselves."

And more are scheduled. Basu alone will add four more channels by August, one each in Gujarati and Punjabi followed by two more Bengali channels. Then there's a Kannada channel from Zee while Eenadu and Sun are also expected to expand the regional channel bouquet.

Estimates vary but the demand for television software is said to have gone up anywhere from 50 per cent to 100 per cent over the last year. As Madhavi Mutatkar, deputy chief executive officer, regional and English channels, Zee TV, says, "A channel is a hungry monster, it has to be constantly fed."

And they're getting hungrier by the hour. New channels generally carry at least four hours of original programming a day at launch, gradually increasing this to six to eight hours within three-six months. That means a huge opportunity for software producers.

For instance, TV 18 has cashed in on this to line up seven new shows, three for SAB TV and two each for Zee English and Channel V. The company's entertainment production division, which accounts for around 40 to 45 per cent of total turnover, has grown nearly 40 per cent this year, says Bahl. Balaji Telefilms, which ventured into regional programming nearly two years ago for channels like Sun and Gemini, _ it has six serials on regional channels currently _ is now doing something for Alpha Punjabi.

Demand is also growing, points out Kapoor, because of the stiffer competition among channels. "Earlier a channel would continue with a show even if it was having an average run. Now, every show must do well so they are willing to offer slots more quickly," In other words, as Bahl points out, serials have a shorter shelf life _ against 52 weeks earlier a serial now has to prove its worth within 26-30 weeks or risk oblivion.

Also new time bands have opened up. Earlier, producers catered only to the 8-10 pm prime time band. Today, there is a 10-12 pm slot or the three-hour afternoon band slot is no longer filled with a film but has more original content.

Even Doordarshan is looking for more programming, adds Markand Adhikari, joint-CEO, SAB. DD Metro, in fact, has opened up prime-time slot that producers are bidding for currently. On DD1, SAB has picked up three-and-a-half hours worth of airtime a week. This includes a 10.30-11 pm slot on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday that SAB is branding as a thriller slot and for which Adhikari has committed a minimum guarantee of Rs 6 lakh a day against the Rs 2 lakh a day that DD was earning on it so far.

Besides, Adhikari points out that five years ago, new channels filled their schedule with old films. "Today, with audiences used to quality programming, new channels can no longer adopt this strategy," he says.

It's not just the existing production houses that are benefitting from the software boom. Since a bulk of the new channels are in regional languages, the software demand is also resurrecting regional film and theatrical industries, many of which were dying.

Mutatkar points out, "The Marathi film industry was in the doldrums; in Punjab, the film industry had almost died with people having moved to mainstream Hindi films. But regional channels like Alpha have helped revive these industries and suddenly, young people are making programmes in their own mother tongue."

So a number of writers and directors, and in some cases even spotboys, are said to be turning their hand at production. Some existing producers like Priya Tendulkar too have shifted their focus.

Says Tendulkar, "I have shifted my focus to regional channels as I feel they are here to stay. The turnovers may be small, the budgets meagre but in the long run, it's better to have four regional programmes than one national programme especially if you don't have ambitions of expanding and going public."

Of course, this is not the first time that the television software business has boomed. In the early and mid-1990s too, as new channels from the Stars and Sony to ATN and Home TV sprang up, the television software business grew. But the subsequent shake-out in the channels had spelt a crash-landing for many producers as well.

So will history repeat itself? Most producers believe that there are crucial differences this time. As Bahl says, "The growth is more broadbased today while earlier, it was concentrated in a few producers." Even the channels were fewer with over 1,000 producers catering primarily to Doordarshan, Zee and Sony.

Adds Basu, "In the 1990s, there were more individual producers. Now, you have production houses who have established themselves. And because of their size, they are better insulated against a crash. Also, more producers are getting corporatised today."

Besides, compared to the fly-by-night operators that sprang up in the first boom, today, there are more experienced producers around. For instance, there is a lot more preparation on scripts and pilots today compared to the mid-1990s when it was not uncommon for a bare idea to be passed. Even the channels have done their research and have a better fix on target audiences and what kind of programming is likely to click, says Kapoor.

The boom has impacted the business in other ways as well. Take studio and equipment demand. Basu says that there is a very serious problem in finding studios in places like Calcutta, Delhi and Ahmedabad. In Mumbai too, quality studios are hard to come by.

It's the same with camera and lighting equipment. Producers are even having to cope with losses on account of equipment shortages. For instance, if instead of 9 am, a camera is delivered at 1 pm, that's equivalent to a loss of Rs 30,000. Kapoor recounts how she had eight shootings on one day, all of which had to be cancelled because the equipment didn't arrive.

"More than the monetary loss, getting dates from the artists was a nightmare. We had to fit in shootings at night to reach the tapes on time," she recalls. That's why Kapoor has recently invested in two shooting floors besides acquiring four cameras. Now, she has more infrastructure investments lined up once her company goes public.

Even SAB has used part of the Rs 113 crore it raised through a private placement in January in studio, reveals Rakesh Sapru, the new CEO. "We've upgraded our production facilities adding edit suites, graphic packages, cameras and the like."

Growing demand is also pushing up production costs. For instance, artists are said to have raised their rates from 15-25 per cent in recent months although Bahl points that the rise is more discriminatory this time.

According to Adhikari, production costs have risen 25 per cent over the last year. But again, Bahl says that with lower duty structures, equipment and hardware costs have fallen by over 30 per cent so margins have improved by almost five percentage points. Now Basu expects software costs to rise 50-60 per cent over the next six months.

Despite the good times, no one's ruling out the threat of a shakeout. Says Markand Adhikari, joint-CEO, SAB, "In this business, there is always a shakeout for both channels and production houses. Only the fittest will survive," he says.

But not everyone is pessimistic. Mutatkar points that this time around, demand is also coming from other avenues such as webcasting. Or as Bahl says, "It's for real now. Of course, every business is cyclical so to that extent this will also go through the slowdown and pick-up cycle. But it is certainly not a boom-bust cycle."