Right time, right place! She has assumed charge of a three-year old channel which has a unique positioning and one, which experts say, will definitely gain in the post-conditional access scenario. The newly appointed president sales and marketing - Kanta Advani, who joined Sri Adhikari Brothers Television Network Ltd (SAB TV) on 3 April 2003, could be the right person to steer the broadcaster during these challenging times. Advani has spent more than 22 years in the industry - most of them with The Times of India group and the Zee group.

Advani loves being involved with the medium of television which she says has a certain mystique attached to it. She feels that creating TV commercials is much more difficult given the shorter span of time; as against print ads, which she says, last longer and can be preserved longer for future reference. Advani has completed five weeks in the organization and has already initiated some changes along with the actively involved promoters.

Advani spoke to indiantelevision.com's Ashwin Kotian and voiced her views on various SAB TV related and industry related issues. Excerpts:

How does it feel to be in a place like SAB TV?
I suppose five weeks is a sufficient time period to realize that SAB TV is a nice place to be in. It has got the right ingredients - brand recognition, loyal niche viewership, long lasting advertisers and a strong software programming side to the active involvement of the well-known promoters (Markhand and Gautam). They have a natural flair for recognising a good product as well as for conceiving the right mix.

One of the plus points that SAB TV has is the fact that our content and programming department is pretty strong - with their vast experience, the promoters have a very good idea of what works and what doesn't. Due to the vast experience and high success rate, the failure rate is minimal.

What kind of a feedback have you received from the market about the channel?
I have spent the first few days meeting clients and customers; and have received positive feedback from all of them. Every one watches SAB TV at some point of time and there is no one who claims not to have ever watched the channel. There are programmes such as Office Office, Yes Boss, Shriman Shrimati which have etched a place for themselves in the mind of the viewer.

There is a unique audience for the kind of fare which SAB offers and ample scope for incremental reach. However, at the same time, it is important to remember that the channel is still at a nascent state (merely three years old) as compared to the other mass entertainment channels.

SAB TV has managed to attain a reach of 75-80 per cent of that of the other mass entertainment channels. During the one day blackout in March 2003, SAB TV's viewership's increased by 600 per cent. This is a good enough yardstick to claim that the channel has been successful and will certainly do well in the post CAS scenario. Now is the time for consolidation. We have already embarked upon the process.

Immediately after you joined, we have already seen a change in positioning. What is the rationale behind the changes?
Our recent positioning of "Only Smiles, No tears" has helped us embark upon the process of consolidation. Humour is the central theme and the backbone of our programming thrust. Our major emphasis will be on ensuring that we are known as the humour channel.

Between the 8-10 pm slot, we will offer "relief" to viewers - relief from strife, stress, war, negativity so on and so forth. The US-Iraq conflict happened around the same time and there was lot of negativity in the air. Nobody wished for the war but it happened and this coincided with the time we were ready with our new fare. People were more open to our offerings. We believe that there is a need to bring laughter into households.

Our endeavour is to ensure that we put forth intellectual humour, though-provoking, satire, pure comedy, something which helps one to unwind. It shouldn't be inane, black comedy aimed at making fun of people of issues.

What are new offerings as part of the restructuring?
We have lined up four new programmes in the above mentioned genre - Dabba Junction with Jaspal Bhatti; Bade Miyaa Chote Miyaa in which Shekhar Suman plays a double role for the first time in his TV career; Hasi Who Phasi which is about dentists; Saheb Biwi aur Ghulam which is about three sons-in-law who live with their dictatorial mother-in-law. These programmes will definitely bring smiles to the faces of viewers.

Even during the afternoon slots, we show repeats of the above mentioned programmes. Very soon, we shall be launching an afternoon show Diiil Se with Smruti Malhotra of Kyunki Saas Bhi.. fame. Malhotra's show will deal with problems of women - issues such as molestation and incest; coping up with not being able to conceive a male child; joint finances with spouse so on and so forth. There will be panel discussions and ample scope for interaction for the viewers with the host.

The intention is to extend the concepts in different time bands and consolidate the positioning across different day parts. In addition to the above mentioned four programmes (in the humour segment) and the Smruti Malhotra one, we are offering a variety of programmes in different genres - soaps, serials, horror/thriller, drama.

The current affairs programmes in the post 10 pm band seems to be out of sync with the "humour" positioning. What do you have to say?
If you look at it TV viewing is a habit - it is debatable whether the habit is long term or short term. Viewers take a reasonable amount of time to get hooked on to any particular programme but once they do they are pretty loyal.

Well, our current affairs band post 10 pm has a very loyal audience. We have conducted research and found out that the programmes hosted by eminent personalities such as Vir Sanghvi, Karan Thapar, Pratibha Advani are watched by discerning viewers. I myself used to watch them even before I joined SAB TV. The shows offer insights into the current issues that we as Indians face today. It also has celebrities and "real" achievers from various walks of life.

What is the profile of advertisers that you will target? Are there any plans to expand your sales network?
It is interesting to note that some of the brands have been with SAB TV since inception. We have managed to rope in all the top advertisers - Nirma, Cinthol, P&G, Nestle, Cadbury's, Maruti, Yamaha and Philips. There are smaller brands such as Priya Gold, Lancer and Rajdhani.

We are looking at advertisers who can add value to the channel platform; and those who we can add value. It is a two-way process. The key is to expand the market by roping in first time advertisers and giving them a taste of the response which they can get.

I still remember, when I used to work with The Economic Times business-2-business publications, we had clients who didn't even have an artwork or logo. We used to provide them with those services. Now, TV channels' airtime sellers have to get more involved in the complexities and rope in creative shops in order to provide an entire gamut of services to these first time advertisers.

We have offices in Mumbai and Delhi and there are plans to open branches in Kolkata and south India. We believe in having a smaller team. The responsibility of collections rest with the sales team as there are a lot of business intricacies involved. This helps in building long lasting relationships with the clients.

If some of the programmes aren't delivering the goods in terms of TRPs or advertising, will you phase them out?
One of the advantages that SAB TV has is the fact that our content and programming department is pretty strong - with their vast experience, the promoters have a very good idea of what works and what doesn't. Due to the vast experience and high success rate, the failure rate is minimal. We have to ensure that we are in touch with the consumers and understand their likes and distaste. At the end of the day, if there are programmes which don't seem to be working, one has to take a business call to persist with them or chuck them out.

Are there any differences in the way in which advertisers and ad/media agencies look at the broadcasting business now as compared to earlier when you joined the business?
The competition is more pronounced as far as clients and agencies are concerned. Clients have started getting actively involved with TV campaigns and this is some kind of a check on the media planners. The consumption of TV airtime is also increasing and the recent surveys have confirmed that C&S channels have grown. In agencies, planners have become more statistics oriented and having access to technology has definitely helped. However, they should bear in mind that the research studies and ratings are merely a representative of the universe and not the universe itself. However, it is our responsibility to provide them with qualitative insights. As far as ratings are concerned, it is an industry norm and the only yardstick/currency which the industry can use. In life, nothing is foolproof.

Yes, it helps a lot to have strong relationships with agency people. However, we shall get business only by a combination of qualititative insights, quantitative insights and relationships. At the end of the day, the clients and agencies must get a good response. Only then will they come back for a repeat. They have to see value in what we offer. It is a two way process.

The consolidation of media agencies is a good sign. I feel that buying agencies shouldn't push for agency deals because it is detrimental to the interests of the client, agency and broadcasters. Remember, our business is unique - it is a business where the agency and the airtime sellers are working at cross purposes. One wants to get lower rates and the other wants to get higher rates for offerings. We need to build partnerships in which everyone benefits.