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Now, a TV channel that tells you what to catch on other channels, reports
Nikhil Agarwal
WITH about 400 television channels currently on air in India, offering a choice of programmes, do you often feel confused as to which one you should watch while flipping through channels?
Well, the solution is simple enough. Switch on to India’s first and only TV consumer guidance channel, which will inform and recommend you a wide variety of programme choices across multiple TV channels round the clock. What’s on India, which went operational in December last year, provides a channel guide segregated into different categories like news, films, general entertainment and sports. It also provides suggestions to the viewer on the best programme or show to watch at a particular time and help them discover the choicest content hidden in the huge clutter of TV channels. "Our research shows that 70 per cent of the television viewing in India is unplanned. It is a staggering number as seven out of 10 persons switch on the television not knowing what to watch," says Atul Phadnis, founder and CEO of the channel. As per inferences of the research, the channel recommends a vast variety of programme choices to viewers when they are in this ‘search-and-find’ mode. While the focus of the channel is on the content playing at that time, scrolls below the screen features other programmes across channels. Phadnis says, "Consumers need some guidance as there are around 400 channels yearning to grab their eyeballs. What’s on India is an intelligent TV guide. It tells you which are the best programmes happening now, the best sporting events and films in the next half hour." When asked the basis for the recommendations to viewers Phadnis cited research work. "We have a full-fledged research team, which tries to understand the kind of programmes might be of interest to consumers. And our recommendations are made accordingly. After all, it’s a consumer channel," he says. Globally, the concept of a TV guidance channel has been prevalent for long, the tendency among viewers is to constantly check in and out of the channel to get latest updates. The free-to-air channel is expected to earn its revenue from advertisements from broadcasters, as well as mainline advertisers. "TV channels would also like to advertise their new shows on our channel. Besides, we will also have regular advertisers," he says. Many cable and DTH operators have already signed up with What’s On India. But how does the channel score over the regular TV guide available on DTH/CAS platforms, also known as an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) application? "They have only text, while we also have small promos about interesting shows," the Mumbai-based entrepreneur says, adding that the channel also provides the additional service of informing about the best options available at any given point of time across different interest areas. The biggest challenge, Phadnis says, he faced was to make people understand the concept. "Our biggest concern was to make people understand the whole concept of a TV guidance channel as it is a complete new concept in the country." The channel aims to reach 20 million homes by the first quarter of this year. The channel is so confident of the concept that they are targeting the universal market. "In all our studies
in the last three years, we have found that unplanned viewing is a
universal phenomenon cutting across diverse markets and target groups.
While it is most expected in male viewers, we have found remarkably
high and growing incidence of this in housewives, too," the
channel head says. — PTI
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