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January 2010
WHATS ON INDIA
There are more than 500 TV channels available over India.
Given this huge choice, clearly there is a need for
viewers to know what is available on various channels,
for them to either pre-decide on 'appointment viewing'
of their favourite program, or to simply channel surf
more efficiently.
 Recognising
this need in 2005, Atul Phadnis who then worked at television
measurement agency TAM decided to quit his job and set
up "What's On India Media" to launch and provide
Electronic Program Guides (EPG) in various formats,
to DTH operators, Cable TV networks and even as a standalone
channel. In early December 2009, 'What's On India' was
launched as a 24-hour TV guide, Free-To-Air channel.
Cable
networks are encouraged to carry this channel, and provide
their viewers a quick summary of all programs they can
switch to and watch. The 'What's On India' channel carries
program information on the bottom of the screen. The
Top half of the screen is reserved for trailers &
commercials that sustain the channel.
In
an exclusive interview with Satellite & Cable TV
magazine, Phadnis explained, "The key finding guiding
our channel's design is that 70% of the times, Indian
viewers switch on their TVs without knowing exactly
what to watch. Viewers get overwhelmed by thousands
of viewing options within a single day & millions
of viewers are in a search-&-find mode in a bid
to find interesting programs to watch.
EPG
& CHANNEL SEARCH
 The
EPG Applications on the set-top-boxes addresses the
issue to an extent but the What's On India channel offers
several advantages. Explaining the matter in detail,
Phadnis points out :
EPG
and the TV Guidance channel are as different as an Active
News Application and a News Channel. The EPG Application
is a pure information screen facilitating user driven
info display. The key limitations that consumers see
within EPGs are:
F
The EPG only shows them the content about the channels
they have short-listed. Viewers may completely miss
interesting programs that might be running on channels
the viewer did not check!
F
EPG Apps lack intelligence to facilitate discovery of
new shows or niche content or one-off specials.
F
EPG Apps cannot qualify content viz. Hit film versus
a B-Grade movie, Live Match versus an Old re-run
F
EPG Apps also do not facilitate video previews, promos
and other video triggers that can help viewers choose
what to view.
The
TV Guide channel on the other hand is a medium that
makes consumer discovery of TV content surprising and
interesting.
Since
the What's On India channel provides content details
for a huge number of channels, it restricts itself to
providing answers to 'Now' and 'Next' content, on each
channel. "In our studies over the last 3 years
we have found that Unplanned Viewing is a universal
phenomenon. Most viewers have been consistent in their
feedback that they need TV guidance for the NOW and
NEXT time segments every time they switch on their TV
sets. This need is addressed by the What's On India
channel which is constantly presenting viewers with
information and recommendations of what TV programs
to watch NOW & NEXT and where to find them"
Phadnis explained.
The
company's EPG guide available for Cable TV networks
that have digital STBs, and DTH platforms provides multiple
days of forward EPGs.
INTERACTIVITY
The
lack of interactivity with the viewer, for a satellite
delivered channel, would seem to be an impediment. Phadnis
explained that the What's On India channel has worked
around this. "Our channel already has a host of
interactive consumer hooks built via mobile and SMS.
Viewers can set reminder alerts, ask us about a specific
show, enter contests and send us their views on a new
show on TV! Also, since we are partners to all major
Operators for our TV guidance channel as well as their
EPGs, you will see greater amount of interactivity going
forward in this domain as partnered initiatives between
the Operators and What's-On-India."
The
company also plans to foray into the mobile telephony
content search business after 3G technology kicks in.
NEW CHANNEL GENRE
The
What's On India channel has created a new channel genre.
In a crowded market place, this is likely to see Mee-Too
channels emerging. Phadnis is unperturbed. "We
have worked very hard to be the first movers in this
country and we will definitely not give that up easily.
We will keep investing in two aspects - in technology
and in a lot of intellectual capital."
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