IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
FROM THEIR MOVIES TO THEIR NEW CHANNELS, EVERYTHING SEEMS TO HAVE FALLEN IN THE RIGHT PLACE FOR RONNIE SCREWVALA’S PRODIGY UTV
In an alternate dimension, even if Pandora’s Box would have unleashed all the good for mankind, it would still be beyond the term ‘cornucopia’. The entertainment industry’s evolution into a full fledged industry has resulted in a spurt of specialised and general entertainment channels vying for viewer attention and almost nothing seems to be enough! And Ronnie Screwvala is the latest entrant into the lucrative club of broadcasters, even as he seeks to transform UTV from being just a production company to a 360 degree entertainment conglomerate. On his radar is not just traditional broadcasting, but Bollywood masala flicks too. More on his Bollywood ambitions later, but so far as his broadcasting line-up is concerned, it was natural progression for a production house. However, unlike others, UTV did not make a bee-line to launch another Hindi entertainment channel, instead focusing on a variety of channels catering to unique sets of audiences. According to Shantonu Aditya, CEO, UTV Entertainment Television, “We did not want to enter the market with a 12th GEC or any other mass market channel and hence we have launched differentiated channels.”
UTV World Movies, for one, is an international movie channel which screens movies from across the world. Even though the nascent channel faces stiff competition from conventional Hollywood channels like Star Movies, HBO, Sony PIX, et al, it has still managed to hook its selective set of patrons. What’s more, the channel has 45 advertisers on board and over 650 titles to its credit. The plan is to double the number of advertisers in the coming year. Apart from that UTV also launched its Hindi movie channel –UTV Movies–this year, which caught the attention of audiences thanks to its collection of movies. During the year, Screwvala also launched a sub-brand bindass for the youth and launched two channels with this brand name – Bindass and Bindass movies. Though trade pundits are not much impressed with these channels, the company maintains a positive outlook. English business news channel, UTVi, introduced in association with ABC, is also catching up on the popularity charts, and much sooner than expected.
And now for Screwvala’s Bollywood quotient. His movies have certainly caught attention. Ingeniously, even though there were a lot of movies released under the UTV banner, the bouquet presented a unique genre mix. All the movies had a relatively diverse budget range (ranging from Rs.2 crore to Rs.45 crore) and transcended typecasting. There were the stereotyped masala flicks like Race, epic sagas like Jodha Akbar, unconventional movies like Aamir and Wednesday, and even low budget fares like Welcome to Sajanpur. The bigger surprise was that almost all these movies fared convincingly at the box office. Riding the present movie marketing wave, a key reason for the success of Screwvala’s productions has been the accompanying slick promotional extravaganza. Great content sells, but long live marketing!
Surbhi Chawla
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
1500-plus IIPM students placed across the country with 44 bagging international offers
IIPM Admission Detail
IIPM Programme :- SUPERIOR COURSE CONTENTS
IIPM INTERNATIONAL - NEW DELHI, GURGAON & NOIDA
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
IIPM : EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
Why Study Abroad When IIPM Gives You 3 global Advantages!
