Talking Heads with Indrani Mukerjea

Sheetal Patel - Televisionpoint.com | Mumbai
Indrani Mukerjea, CEO, INX Media is a successful entrepreneur and promoter of the INX Group. She is the youngest female CEO of any television broadcasting company in India.

Indrani started the INX Group in 1996, creating one of India's leading human resources agencies nationally. In 2005, she formed an partnership with executive search organization, IMD Search and Consulting. She is also board member of IMD and its Asia Pacific director.

Since March 2007, she has been building up INX Media and INX News from ground zero. INX Media is broadcasting two channels - the Hindi music channel, 9XM, and the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC), 9X, from November 2007. INX News has an English news channel, NewsX.

What's the rationale behind launching a GEC?
We had launched the 9X channel suddenly, as competition was least expecting it. There was a sense of fatigue creeping in with the existing entertainment programming on TV. The programming on GECs like Zee, Star and Sony was become stereotypical. People were craving for a new, powerful connect with more realistic story lines.

Our GEC move was backed by research, which was done by our in house team. The research revealed that people were craving for a more powerful connect, with realistic programming and special story lines in soaps. Hence 9X was born to provide nine times more entertainment.

How is the programming of the channel different?
We are different, as our company has an professional integration of the channel's creative team with that of the production houses. We are using the same production houses as the others, viz. Balaji, Synergy, and Red Hat, but our brief to them is different. It is difficult to get an Ekta Kapoor to deliver stuff 'differently' to you, it is not unachievable though.

To offer the difference in approach, and in tune with our philosophy, we are launching two new shows for 9X, which will replace the prime time dailies Jiya Jaye and Mere Apne, as viewers demanded. From August 25, fiction-based Rubi will air on 9:30 am, every Monday and Tuesday, and is based on the story of a middle class girl. The other show, Ajeeb, launches on August 27 and is a mysterious love story set in a hospital, to be on air every Wednesday and Thursday. We expect that these new shows would help us to strengthen our position more, as we believe in definite number of shows.

Why did 9X decided to launch Mahabharat? Wasn't the decision influenced by the success of NDTV Imagine's Ramayan?
Mahabharat is a story that we heard from our grand parents. And it's a tradition to pass on such stories from one generation to the next. I had discussed the concept with Ekta Kapoor a long time ago, even before 9X was launched. I share great compatibility with her.

Moreover, we had commissioned Kahani Hamaray Mahabharat Ki much before the launch of NDTV Imagine. It's just that Jai Maa Vaishnodevi was the first mythological to take off. Content planning in any channel happens at least a year before the show goes on air. And today, every channel has a mythology on air. So, we aren't really following NDTV Imagine, just going with the flow.

Is the advertising pie big enough to accommodate more players?
The advertising share for GECs has declined marginally of late. But as the nation sees more brand influx; and with retail and telecom sectors on a never-before high, all advertisers are going to need bigger and better advertising platforms. If the reach is right, advertising share will increase significantly because entertainment is undoubtedly the largest selling proposition on Indian TV.

From the advertiser's point of view, I think that more platforms were needed to make the brand connect better with the target audience. Moreover, about 60 per cent of the country does not watch television today and as the number of cable & satellite homes increase, the market will penetrate simultaneously.

With CAS, DTH, HITS and IPTV, advertisers are preferring more reach. The more organised the distribution system, the more the advertisers will benefit. For now, we will remain free-to-air and depending on market feedback, we'll take a call later. We, however, continue to be the number three GEC within few weeks of the 9X launch.

But with the launch of Colors and NDTV Imagine, your number three position was for a short while?
Any newly launched channel comes out off flying colors for few weeks, but the consistency in delivering value to the viewers plays an pivotal role. Both Colors and NDTV Imagine have been performing since the launch, but I don't think it is appropriate to draw a conclusion on whether they will sustain this. You need to wait and watch the action for few more weeks to imagine an least aberrated picture.

Moreover, anyone who claims to have turned number one or two in a few weeks is not being honest. 9x is still a relatively new channel as compared to Star Plus and Zee TV. We're closer to Sony TV and NDTV Imagine in terms of ratings.

If so is the case, then where is the need to attract advertisers heavily?
The business model demanded that. We have launched Platinum, Gold & Silver levels as one time memberships to brands on the 9X channel. The association only 'rate protects' them for the duration of the contract, even as moving further, our rates will keep augmenting.

What are the new developments at 9XM?
9XM has become the leader in the music segment and its performance has significantly improved since its launch. 9XM has become the second channel from INX Media to be available in the UK. Its funky, irreverent and unique style of presenting full-length, current hit, Bollywood songs broke the mold of music channels in India and made it immensely popular. It is a place young people can call their own and where they can enjoy the best of Bollywood's music and dance. We hope it will work its magic in the UK too.

What is Peter Mukerjea's experience with Star India getting for INX Media?
Peter's experience of fourteen years is a strong backbone for the group, and undisputedly an powerhouse for the entire INX brand. Our entire team looks at him for continuous improvement, guidance and support on strategies.

What are the expansion plans of the INX Media?
INX Media is in talks with potential investors to raise $ 150 million in a second round of funding to finance our expansion plans. We are currently talking to investors and are hoping to complete this round by December. For our subsidiary INX News, we have earlier raised $ 170 million in the first round of funding completed in February 2007.

We will deploy the money we raised in the first round by December or thereabouts, and the money from the second round will be used to strengthen our existing properties and also for expansion into the regional markets, which is part of the original business plan. We are planning to start eleven new channels, of which two will be national, with the others targeted at regional markets. We are also planning an another national general entertainment channel and music channel, which will be very well differentiated from 9X and 9XM.

Can you please give some insights on your regional foray?
We are planning to launch GECs in Marathi, Bengali and Punjabi and music channels in Gujarati, Bengali and Punjabi. In addition to these, INX News will launch city-specific news channels for New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. We have applied for licences to the ministry of information and broadcasting six months ago.

There is a lot of interest from potential investors and we are very optimistic that INX Media will be an attractive target for global strategic investor's, who are seeking a presence in India as we are about the only available player who is not already aligned with a strategic player. The new round may see a combination of a strategic investor as well as financial investors.