Hindi
Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy
MUMBAI: One of the most loved film genres across geographies was action was the thought that prompted the launch of a new movie channel – Housefull Action. Launched on 21 February this year, the channel specifically caters to the action hungry audience that is constantly looking for more. The channel says that it will be showcasing the best of content from Hollywood, Bollywood and Tollywood.
Housefull Action is marketed by White Pixel in association with Swami Films and is broadcast by Triumph Media Vision Pvt Ltd (Triumph MVPL).
Speaking with Indiantelevision.com, Swami Films founder and director Ajit Joshi said, “With the launch of Housefull Action, our aim is to cater and entertain the action movies lover. Primarily, our focus will be on South Indian movies but we will also be airing Bollywood and Hollywood action films.”
To ensure that even the interiors of the country could view its offerings, the channel first launched on DD Freedish. Currently, Housefull Action is available on Dish TV’s DTH platform, as also on Den, Hathway and major MSOs’. Further, the channel is in talks with other MSOs’ as well, hence in the coming couple of months the distribution of the channel will become more robust.
Marketing strategy
Being just two months old, the channel is yet to have advertisers on board. In the meanwhile the channel has sold time slots to several brands for teleshopping. On an average, sources within Housefull Action said that the channel earns revenues of between Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000 for half an hour from teleshopping. On a given day, the channel airs teleshopping for four to five hours.
Unravelling Housefull Action’s strategy, Joshi said, “There are two ways for the business – teleshopping or commercial advertisements. We will go with the both the ways in future.”
With digitization happening across metros the channel will be generating revenue through ad sales, Joshi said, “White Pixel clearly feels that it has been getting good response from the market and that people are keen to add more channels in the plans to build frequency”.
Joshi revealed, “We are waiting for our BARC ratings to stabilize so that we can pitch to our advertisers. Keeping our competitors in mind, we will freeze the 10 sec ad rates. We have good financiers working with us, therefore we hope for the best.”
Triumph MVPL director Sudhir Singh said, “There is a huge market available for the action genre and we want to capitalize on it. We have done our primary research work and the results show us that this market still wants more action movie channels”. While sources within the channel revealed that it is looking to garner around 15 to 20 GRPs’ in the first year of launch Singh explained, “We are not in the numbers game here. We clearly want to sustain ourselves and be there.”
White Pixel director Abdul Aziz Khan said, “Within the Hindi movie genre, ours is a niche genre. For the action movie genre, the core audience is male (age group 15 +). Since there are not many players who cater to this niche genre, we will be targeting those brands that are looking to cater to the male TG as their primary audience.” Reiterating, Aziz said, “We have a very clear definition of catering to the hard core action lover who is primarily male and taking to that audience to the advertisers who want to target the male TG.”
To garner eyeballs, Housefull Action currently spends around Rs 20 to Rs 25 lakh towards marketing with plans to up that figure to about Rs one crore. There are also plans for on-ground activations and other marketing activities lined up for the coming months.
Joshi further revealed that apart from the movie channel, his group is planning to launch a website Housefultv.com very soon. “For the first time a movie channel will go live. Audiences can watch movies of their own choice. They can easily log in. Initially it will be free of cost.
Sources within the channel say that it has movies like Border, Sarfarosh, Shehenshah, Deewar, Tridev, Deva, Rakshak and Kalavaram in its library. According to industry sources, the acquisition prices of the movies that the channel has in its kitty so far have ranged between of Rs 5- 50 lakhs.
The management says that it will be pumping in money to strengthen its distribution as it wants visibility across all platforms. It also wants to build its visibility by targeting the trade fraternity and customers directly by giving them regular updates on the developments at its end. It has plans to acquire other interesting properties on a regular basis.
The group managing Housefull Action has firm plans to make its venture a profitable one. It is left for time to determine how successful its efforts will be.
Hindi
Hansa Entertainment launched to produce across OTT, TV and film
New venture from R K Swamy Hansa Group eyes multi-language stories for digital-first audiences.
MUMBAI: Hansa Entertainment has just stepped into the spotlight because when a legacy media house decides to script its next act, even the credits get excited. Hansa Entertainment Private Limited has been incorporated to develop and produce original programming across digital, television, OTT platforms and theatrical features. The company will create short-running series, long-running series and original films for OTT, alongside standout theatrical ventures. It will also launch a podcast platform called Hansa Spotlight and produce content for the fast-growing vertical drama format. Stories are initially planned in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali and Kannada.
The venture is founded by Sruti Swamy and Siddharth Swamy, drawing on the rich legacy of Hansa Vision and the broader R K Swamy Hansa Group. Sruti brings creative expertise with a master’s in architecture, interiors and design from Milan and a postgraduate degree in business management from the Indian School of Business. Siddharth contributes a data-driven perspective, having studied data science at Imperial College London.
Sujatha Narayanan has been appointed CEO of Hansa Entertainment. With over two decades of experience in creative content curation and production across film and OTT, she is also a well-known film columnist and media entrepreneur.
R K Swamy Hansa Group executive chairman Srinivasan Swamy said, “The launch of Hansa Entertainment marks an exciting new chapter. The new entity is the brainchild of the next generation and will be independently managed by Sruti Swamy, who is the Director and the newly appointed CEO.”
Hansa Entertainment director Sruti Swamy added, “I am very optimistic about the future of Hansa Entertainment, given the content explosion and the opportunities offered by new technologies for production.”
Hansa Entertainment director Siddharth Swamy noted, “The idea is to grow a contemporary production house that creates compelling stories for today’s multi-platform audiences while drawing inspiration from the rich storytelling traditions that audiences have appreciated over the years.”
Hansa Entertainment CEO Sujatha Narayanan said, “Hansa Entertainment will evolve as a story-first, IP-driven entity. We have already put together a smart team of interesting and dynamic creators who will helm our vertical dramas, shows and films.”
In the ever-evolving world of Indian entertainment, where stories now travel faster than the scripts that birth them, Hansa Entertainment is stepping onto the stage with fresh ink and big ambitions proving that even the best legacies know when it’s time for a compelling sequel.
