Sameer Nair, the head of NDTV's entertainment division,
NDTV Imagine, is all set to reap the benefits of the TV industry boom
but not without his favourite producer Ekta Kapoor.
"Ekta has been my favourite producer and I hope to continue
with her. We are in talks with her as well as other major producers
like Hatsoff, Endemol, Synergy," said Nair who is planning to
launch NDTV Imagine's first channel at the end of the year.
Nair, who proved his credentials as the CEO of STAR Entertainment
India, promises to bring changes in the television business, which
is apparently seeing a 22 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR).
"We are planning to be different but we are not planning to
be different for the sake of being different. We are planning to be
different to be ahead," said Nair.
"When you are launching a new brand you look for differentiation
and that goes without saying. We are doing Hindi general entertainment
and it will have soaps, dramas, game shows, singing shows, celebrity
shows movies because that is the basic staple of general entertainment.
But they are not going to be the same and how different are they going
to be, wait and see."
To achieve his new goals he teams up with Bollywood's talented and
successful filmmaker Karan Johar.
"Karan is involved in the project in many ways. We would work
closely with Karan to develop new ideas and concepts. We have been
discussing them. We hope Karan will do some shows for us. In fact,
we will force him to do some shows for us."
Quite a few big players, including Nair's former colleague Peter
Mukherjea, are reportedly coming up with new channels but the former
is unfazed and says it will rev up the competition.
"We all are friends and we are working. In this business there
are many channels and every year when a new channel is launched people
say there are too many channels, what will happen now? Usually what
happens is that people make good programmes, create good entertainment
but the one who makes the best wins the race. Of course, we face competition
for ratings and viewership. But there is no war among us."
For the television industry, the Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (FICCI) report forecast that it would be worth
Rs.519 billion as against Rs.191 billion currently.
And Nair plans to rule the roost with the new channel, expected to
go on air in December this year or January 2008.
"Post launch we would like to be the number one or number two
and I think that's a fair enough target. There are only three or four
major players in the Hindi space. Compared to others, the Hindi general
entertainment market is least cluttered."
Currently, the total earning from the Hindi entertainment section
is about Rs.18 billion.
Talking about the space captured by his previous company, Nair said
that currently STAR occupies 30 percent of the total Hindi entertainment
wing.
NDTV Imagine will introduce three new entertainment channels. These
will be free to air and will have a preview period.
"We have to yet to decide the channel name yet," said Nair
referring to the first one. "In the entertainment business the
premium is on quality and if you are able to create superior content
people would see. We are catering to the family audience."
He also cleared speculation about STAR's two prized possessions,
"Koffee with Karan" and "Kaun Banega Crorepati"
(KBC) moving to NDTV along with Nair.
" 'Koffee...' is a property owned by STAR so it will remain
with the channel. As far as KBC is concerned it has signed a five-year
deal with STAR starting this year, so it will also remain with STAR
TV," he said.
