"We are not losing sleep over not being No. 1": Sneha Rajani

Sony Entertainment Television has recently launched a new fiction property titled, 'Kya Hua Tera Vaada'. The show has been conceived by Ekta Kapoor of Balaji Telefilms and stars Mona Singh and Pawan Shankar as lead co-stars. The show will air from 30 January 2012 at 10:00 pm. On the occasion of announcement of the new show, Sneha Rajani, senior executive vice president and business head, SET (Sony Entertainment Television) shared a few insights into Sony's future course of action and audience preferences.

Two of the three programmes from Sony that come under the list of Top 10 programmes of Week 2, 2012, are C.I.D. and Crime Patrol. Do you see a shift in audience preference?
Not really. I think we are the only channel that offers a variety within fiction content. C.I.D. as a brand has been with us for 15 years now and it has been extremely successful. Whereas, Crime Patrol, with the launch of its fourth season, called 'Dastak', has definitely hit a nerve with its extremely unique content. It tells the viewer about the signs of danger that shouldn't be overlooked or brushed aside.

How do the advertisers respond to these shows?
Such shows have always excited the advertisers because, as I said, they are educational, they are full of learning. There is a slight male skew of products advertised during these slots but if you see the viewership of shows like Crime Patrol, you'll find that it is being viewed by an entire family and not just the man of the house. It has become a universal show now with hardly a particular skew towards one group of audience.

How are you dealing with the advent of HD channels (with no ads)?
HD, right now, is at such a nascent stage that it makes no difference. It is a viewing pleasure at the moment and that's what we are showing to people. Let them see it, know it, adopt it, and then we will get to the stage of advertising. At this instant, it is an alternate feed to tell people that they can get superlative quality viewing through HD. When the numbers increase, the advertisers will come in.

What are the immediate growth objectives for SET?
That would involve consolidation and getting as close as we can to the leadership position. We just want to make sure that the channel offers content that people love. And we will be happy with wherever that journey takes us. But we are not losing sleep over not being No. 1 at all. Fiction will remain our primary focus but that does not mean we will not do any non-fiction. Comedy Circus, currently running on air, is also in the realm of non-fiction. We will be announcing a big-ticket non-fiction show in a few months from now. We are launching another fiction show in the month of February. So, broadly the composition we are looking at, would be 80% fiction and 20% non-fiction.