AXN goes desi, plans local shows

The Times of India
If you can’t change ’em, join them. Realising the importance of localized content to widen its viewership base, AXN the niche adventure and sporting channel has decided to launch a series of Indiacentric shows. This proposed Indian programming band shall supplement its mainstay international shows.

Three new series are planned, each with 15-20 episodes, with the first slated for an early September launch. All the shows will be shot and produced in India and feature Indian hosts, participants and local themes. Even the scripts may be a combination of English and Hindi or Hinglish, a surprising move for a channel that even today desists from dubbing its English-language shows, a practise popular with other niche channels like Discovery.

"These local shows shall supplement AXN’s current offering of the best international shows. We expect this to help us connect better with the young urban Indian, who is our core audience" says Ricky Ow, general manager, Sony Pictures Entertainment Networks Asia, AXN’s parent company.

The first will be Gamex-a specialized computer and electronic gaming show. Targeting 15-25 year olds computer and mobile game afficianados, the 30-minute show, will be an onscreen magazine with sections like game previews, tricks and tips and behind the scenes look at the making of blockbuster games. There will also be an international section, shot in London which will look at the latest gaming trends overseas.

Internationally computer games rake in larger revenues than Hollywood. The next in line is a lifestyle show aimed at 25 year old males. This 30-minute show will have sections ranging from fashion, clothing, gadgets, automobiles and entertainment. There will also be features on alternative sports and emerging social trends.

"In short every thing that is of interest to a 25 year old Indian male," says Rohit Bhandari, director of sales and marketing, south asia. AXN says that it will be the show’s international production standards as well as its tangential take on contemporary issues that will diffentiate this show from other lifestyle shows on air.

Also on the cards is an international 60-minute reality show, debuting early next year. "It is a format that is completely new and unique. It shall be a skill based challenge, testing both mental agility and athletic prowess," says Ow. While AXN has over come out with Indian episodes of its international shows like Who dares wins, AXN Extreme and extreme Dhamaka, this is the first time that its going in for a complete series conceptualized and produced exclusively for an Indian audience.

A niche channel targeting young urban consumers in the Sec A & B socio ecomomic groups, the SPE subsidiary has stayed away from succumbing to local tastes and preferences, claiming it would dilute its positioning as an international aspirational channel.This is despite TVR of its bestselling shows like Fear factor languishing below 1. Interestingly, the only shows that have struck a chord with the masses, have been its post 11 pm shows like Wild On and Poor Man’s Bikini destination.