MUMBAI: Digitization and online media are at the peak in today’s times. The industry is materializing the perks of digital and social media to the fullest. Digital media gives the privilege of direct responses from targeted consumers to the channels, which tempts brands, channels and industries to interact with their TG through these media.  

Facebook, Twitter and other social media handles have become a prominent bridge to reach out to masses. No mention is truly needed about how rapidly industry practices are being digitized. From show promotions to pushing trailers, everything is measured through Facebook views and likes as another measure to calculate reach of the content.

Infotainment major History TV 18 claims to have leveraged the social media world.  History TV 18 claims to have reached 25 million (2.5 millon) views in 25 days of its show OMG Yeh Mera India video on Facebook. Infotainment being a niche genre, has a narrow audience, therefore the channel believes this to be a landmark on the way to increasing its audience width.

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Sharing data with indiantelevision.com, the channel says that its average daily reach has increased by 165.32 percent from April 2015 to March 2016 with a difference of 310,470 visits. History TV 18 states that it adopted a simple strategy by going local on the content and customizing short format videos from full length episodes of shows.

Hosted by Krushna Abhishek, OMG Yeh Mera India is a show about covering the length and breadth of India while showing incredible facts about its people and places.

The channel also speaks about its four point check on any video it creates, which increases the probability of audience engagement. The four point check is: Will it inspire our audience? Is it aspirational for our audience? Does this instil a sense of pride in the audience? Are there any strong feel good factors in this?

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Social media is getting preference over other mediums of content reach due to its engagement with audiences. A+E Networks | TV18 JV vice president and head marketing Sangeetha Aiyer, while speaking with indiantelevision.com. shares, “Content has one purpose – to reach out to the maximum people. Video has one purpose – to be viewed by maximum people. So our video content is judged on the basis of views, shares and reach.”

The key to reach viewers through any medium is content, History TV 18 says that it is not the quantity of content but quality of content that matters. Infotainment channels need not flood timelines with content, rather, they must provide the audience with fresh and engaging content. Also, it is important for channels to understand their target audience. Most channels claims to have young males as their primary audience, and that they are catering to a segment that is seeking aspiration and inspiration.

According to Aiyer, the other content except for regular stuff that people tend to like on social media platforms are stories related to rural India and national development. Success stories and inspirational stories are also well appreciated. The channel is planning to improve the format of its video content, which means going beyond television and essentially becoming an independent factual entertainment platform on its own.

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The enthusiasm of a big player in the genre shows that infotainment soon will be levering the benefits of social media engagements and more activity from this sector from other players is likely to happen.

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