Keeping with the changing tastes and preferences of Indian television viewers, niche or specialist channels which cater to a particular interest area or age-group are all set to rule the Indian television industry.
With the number of channels dedicated to kids, lifestyle, fashion, already jostling for space in Indian drawing rooms, the days of niche channels have just begun, industry experts say. The market for specific, specialised content is slowly evolving.
Channels showing everything from movies to fashion and sports are not able to give enough options to viewers who would like to switch on to specific programmes whenever they watch television and that is what the specialised channels offer them, says Apurva Purohit, chief operating officer, Zoom, India's first entertainment & lifestyle channel.
"It points towards a grown up television and cable market where viewers want choice and now that the industry has realised this change, in the next few years more specialist channels will come up, says Purohit adding that they are planning to launch a spiritual channel soon.
"It is a sign of a developing and matured market, which is becoming segmentised. And very much in line with the International trend like in west where 50 per cent of channels are niche," she says.
The specialist channels including infotainment, English language, music, news and kids channels, together account for Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion) -- 20 per cent of the Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) television revenues, according to television ratings.
A specialised and segmentised market will benefit the advertisers too as advertising in a segmentised market means more revenue, says Purohit.
Agrees Hema Govindan, marketing and communications head of Walt Disney India, "Specific speciality channels are coming up. It points towards a discerning audience who stands to benefit."
"We felt the growing need of children in India and found there is a dearth of both quality and variety of children programmes here," says Hema, whose company recently launched two channels, Toon Disney and Disney Channel in India targeting the kids entertainment section.
"India has more than 40 million cable homes, and is a priority market for us," says Rajat Jain, MD, Walt Disney India. "With more than 100 million children, it is the world's biggest preschool market. And we expect our Indian venture will become the most popular of our channels after US within a year."
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