Colors brings top Indian telly to Dubai

The Indian television station Colors is now available to satellite viewers in the Middle East and North Africa following an agreement with Arab Digital Distribution, officials said on Wednesday.

Viacom18 Media, the conglomerate that runs the station in India, said the regional launch follows a roll out across the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, in what is an attempt to reach the South Asian expatriate community.

“The launch is part of Viacom18’s aggressive growth plans to extend our flagship brand outside India,” Rajesh Kamat, Group COO, Viacom18 and CEO, Colors, told Emirates24|7 in an interview. “Colors has not only become India’s favourite entertainment destination but is on its way to replicate its success in other key markets as well.”

In India, Colors leads its segment with 23 per cent of the market share.

The station, which is offered to existing and new subscribers of ADD’s Pehla packages at no extra cost, is expected to find favour particularly with Indian expatriates, who are unable to watch favourite shows in the UAE, despite many subscribing to India's Dish TV platform. In terms of programming, Colors offers a mix of popular fiction series, reality shows and blockbuster Bollywood films.

An estimated 25 million Indians live outside the country, concentrated in North America, the UK and the Arabian Gulf.

But station officials hope Colors will also reach the local and expat Arab demographic. “Bollywood is popular all across the world, even in Japan, which was a surprise to us,” Kamat said.

International production

He said the next plank of his strategy would be to create local content tailored to these international markets, beginning in about “three to six months’ time”.

“Local programming would account for about eight to ten per cent of the channel’s line-up,” he said. He said such production would take a phased approach, beginning with international auditions and on-location episodes for existing shows such as “India’s Got Talent,” before producing region-specific standalone content.

Viacom 18’s current deal with ADD extends to distribution and advertising sales, but production would require setting up a new office, he said. “I’d say local shows are about a year away,” he added.

Kamat said content on the station would factor in regional sensibilities. “Filters for obscenity are very similar in India and the Middle East, so there won’t be a problem there, but as far as issue-based content goes, we will have to be sensitive to local tastes,” he said.

Abdel Ghani Ali, CFO, Arab Media Corporation (AMC), ADD’s parent, said the station would add greater depth to the general entertainment quotient of the Pehla bouquet. “The tie-up with ADD offers enormous strategic advantage to Colors as the channel will leverage Pehla’s established audience franchise across the Mena region,” he said.

Ghani said the Pehla platform had bucked prevailing recessionary conditions. “Pehla has continued to maintain a robust year-on-year growth, with subscription and advertising revenues clocking $55 million (Dh202m) in 2009, riding on premium cricket and the diverse content offering. We expect a further boost for 2010 with Colors and new channels addition likely to drive the growth in subscription and advertising revenues,” he said.
Bollywood movies

Viewers in the Middle East now will be able to watch popular Indian fiction shows including “Balika Vadhu”, “Uttaran”, “Laagi Tujhse Lagan” and “Naa Aana Iss Des Laado” on the same day as the Indian telecast. The station is also home to several big-ticket reality shows, including “Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi x 3,” which is hosted by Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra and “Bigg Boss Season 4” featuring actor Salman Khan.

Kamat said the Middle Eastern feed would be the same as the Indian one and that it would be delayed to fit local programming bands. “So a show that goes on air at 8pm in India would air at 8pm in Dubai,” he said.

A slew of Bollywood movies are lined up for telecast over the next few months, including “Khatta Meetha” and “Tees Maar Khan,” which star Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan’s “Dabangg”, Ajay Devgn’s gritty “Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai”, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s much-awaited “Guzaarish”, Priyanka Chopra’s “Saat Khoon Maaf” and the Abhishek Bachchan-Deepika Padukone film “Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey.”

“We’ve been able to reduce the gap between theatrical releases from about a year to between 35 and 40 days, so viewers don’t have to wait such a long time any more,” Kamat said.

The new channel will be available as part of all three Asian packages offered by ADD – Pehla Basic, Pehla Silver and Pehla Gold. ADD will also distribute Colors on various cable and IPTV platforms in the region.

ADD packages reach out to more than 1.2 million subscribers across the region on three different bouquets and offers more than 60 channels. Officials said Pehla has the highest audience reach across the GCC and is the fastest growing pay television bouquet in the Middle East.
 

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