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MUMBAI:
UTV Movies, the Hindi movie channel from UTV Global Broadcasting
which started beaming on 24 February, has acquired 250 titles
and will be investing Rs 300 million for the launch campaign.
Earlier UTV Software Communications CEO Ronnie Screwvala
had told Indiantelevision.com that the peak funding requirement
for the Hindi movie channel would be Rs 2.5 billion.
UTV
is betting on contemporary titles. "90 per cent of the
films in our library are less than 5 years old," said
UTV Global Broadcasting Ltd executive director Shantonu Aditya.
Some
of the titles the channel has acquired include Halla Bol
and Aap Ka Suroor.
In
addition, the channel will also leverage the in-house films
produced by UTV Motion Pictures. Goal, Hattrick
and Life in a Metro are some of the movies released
by UTV Motion Pictures last year.
"We
believe in the studio model which works well in Hollywood.
With UTV Movies, we are introducing the same in India,"
said Aditya.
When
asked about the feasibility of launching another Hindi movie
channel in a market where acquisition of movie prices has
witnessed a considerable raise, Aditya said, "We have
UTV Motion Pictures to provide us with latest titles and we
will promote it aptly. Apart from that, the syndication model
is taking good shape whch is there to stay. Zee has syndicated
few titles to us which we will screen shortly. A movie channel
is driven by titles, not audience loyalty."
On
weekdays, the channel has created a 2-pm slot for women. This
will be followed by an evening slot called Cutting Chai
at 5 pm. The 8:30 pm slot is called Paisa Vasool which
will show latest films.
"Existing
movie channels as well as GECs show big titles on weekends
but we are taking a different route," said Aditya.
To
spice up the weekends, the channel will show English films
dubbed in Hindi during prime time at 8:30 pm in the slot called
Foreign Returned.
The
other offerings from the channel include Bachcha Party
slot on Sunday morning at 8 am for children. Titles like Hidden
Fortress, Flying Snicker and Tony Tricker will
be dubbed in Hindi and shown.
With
regard to marketing campaigns, the channel has set aside Rs
300 millions for the launch promos which will span across
all the Hindi speaking Tam markets.
"We
first believe in getting our distribution in place and then
in promoting the channel," explained Aditya.
In
order to to establish direct connect with the viewers, the
campaign will be rolled out across various platforms including
outdoor, radio, cross-channel promos and the internet.
Airtel
has been roped in as one of the advertisers on the channel.
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