Indrani Mukerjea is the founder and the newly-appointed CEO of INX Media. She also heads INX News. The youngest woman to head a media group in the world, Mukerjea spoke to Sayantani Kar on INX's bouquet of channels that will be launched in the next one-and-a-half years.
What are the other channels, apart from 9X and the already-launched 9XM, in your upcoming channel bouquet?
Our general entertainment channel, 9X, is being launched today. In the next year-and-a-half, we are planning to launch three regional entertainment channels. We haven't yet taken a final call as to which regions will the channels address, but we are looking at languages like Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati and Punjabi.
Then, there are three metro news channels the cities for which are yet to be finalised. These will be city-specific and will incorporate in their presentation the languages widely spoken in those metros.
For example, the news channel catering to Delhi will have a mix of English, Hindi, Punjabi, while the one for Mumbai might include Marathi and Gujarati besides English. We also plan to launch three regional music channels.
<b>What is your strategy to break the clutter -- in programming and marketing -- for your channel?</b>
The marketing campaign for 9X is the largest channel launch in India. People have been reading about 9X and noticing the campaign, especially in the last 15 days.
We are clear about our strategy in terms of programming -- it is to connect with the viewer. When we say that 9X stands for nine times more entertainment than the rest, we want to ensure that by going beyond we are providing just the right content for our viewers.
We think we can do it by making our programmes fresher, bigger and better by global standards. It will be applied across all our channels.
Not only will we be bringing global standards through our production values the scale, the look and the feel will be at par with the world -- but we are also bringing in fresher entertainment by eschewing certain trends that others' content reflects. We won't patronise and tell our viewers what they should watch; neither will we go overboard trying to create sensational content. We will address the Indian value system that has a universal appeal.
But given that you have roped in the production houses which have been producing for other channels as well, what new approach will they bring to the table?
Production houses create content according to the brief they get from the channels. Hence, our brief to all of them was to make content that will connect with the viewer, be entertaining and sensitive to India's cultural values.
The mix on 9X seems to resemble that of other channels (talent hunts, comedy, drama). Will there be anything new in the programming mix?
I wouldn't want to go into the details of the new things being planned. However, we will bring in a lot of non-fiction, which will be glossier and well-made. It will be a combination of reality TV, game shows, talk shows and events.
Niche channels are increasingly gaining popularity, where will another general entertainment channel, 9X, fit in?
Look at the Indian population. I refuse to believe that for the rest of our lives we would want to watch just three general entertainment channels. A study of audiences in different time bands can help producers in coming up with programmes that make sense to everyone in the family.
Although you have started with established names and stars, will you also be incorporating new talents?
Yes, we have already done that. We have also tied up with new production houses whose work you can watch in the 10:30 pm prime time band, starting today.
According to a recent ASSOCHAM survey, advertisers still prefer the print media. Do you see that changing?
New channels will open up opportunities for advertisers even more. They will provide more platforms and will increase the advertisers' ad spends.
Why do you think there is such an influx of TV channels in India?
The electronic medium is relatively young in India as compared to the US and the UK. It is just 14 years old. At this point, any new player with a good product can enter the market without having to worry about the existing ones.
