"Our goals are different from those of a GEC": Mahesh Samat, Epic Channel

Epic Channel, recently launched offering from Epic Television Networks, is the latest entrant in the Hindi entertainment category. Launched on November 19, with 13 shows that air once a week, the channel calls itself a 'segmented entertainment channel'.

However, TAM categorises it as a 'Hindi general entertaiment channel', alongside recently launched channels like Zindagi and Sony Pal.

Epic Channel offers original content in the Indian history, folklore and mythology space. Genres the content covers include action, drama, comedy and narrative non-fiction.

Before taking the plunge as founder and managing director, Epic Television Networks, Mahesh Samat was managing director at Walt Disney, before which he was managing director at Johnson & Johnson (Singapore and UK).

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Consumer need. There is a need for differentiated entertainment content. Digitisation will allow such channels to prosper. Channels like Epic complete the existing basket of cross-category content.

We are working with great partners. IndiaCast (distribution company) has done a great job of getting us to places we want to be. We have a digital strategy in place. We are not going to analogue markets.

The difficulties we face are no more than those faced by any start-up in any industry. Today, the TV industry is large, fragmented, dynamic and complex. Now is a great time to be in this industry. It'll see tremendous growth in the next five years.

Epic is not a GEC. It is a segmented entertainment channel. Our goals are different from those of a GEC. Even from a ratings point of view, we should not be compared to a GEC.

Anyway, 'GEC' and all are industry terms; consumers don't make these classifications.

Our shows - for instance, 'Dharmakshetra', 'Dariba Diaries' and 'Yam Kisi Se Kam Nahin' - are nowhere close to infotainment content.

So far, on social media, positive comments about the channel outnumber the negative ones. The packaging, visual appeal, and shows/stories are being talked about. People are commenting on the food show 'Raja, Rasoi Aur Anya Kahaniyaan'. We have got a good response for 'Dharmakshetra' and 'Siyaasat'.

It is too early to come to any conclusion. We are trying a whole bunch of different things like weekly formats and different kinds of shows. As far as TAM numbers are concerned... statistics are a very dangerous thing to fool around with. My urge would be to ignore it till we have data that's substantial enough to draw any kind of conclusion.

Consumers are entering the world of fragmentation. Today, there are close to thirteen GECs. Say each has five shows everyday; that's a total of around 60 shows, daily. Appointment viewing is difficult. Urban consumers are also increasingly 'binge watching' international content.

This is an opportunity for us to try and see if a different model of TV might work.

It is an entertainment channel and is hence placed there in the EPG. But I don't think the current EPG is perfect. As consumers become more sophisticated, the EPG will evolve.

We are trying to create a different category. Epic will not be as big as a GEC, but it will be big. Other channels follow different consumer insights and models; comparing us with them is not correct.

Presently, we're working hard at getting consumers to discover the channel through the LCN (Logical Channel Number).

We have got interesting propositions from a large range of advertisers.

Epic is more male-skewed than other entertainment channels. This will help attract new advertisers. I don't want to get into 'premium' and 'non-premium', because the stories on the channel are fairly universal. Having said that, I think we'll get the premium audiences as well.

We are looking at three streams of revenue generation - subscription, advertising and syndication.

Because the TV business in India has seen only one model (advertising, and now subscription to some extent) we tend to think that's it. But internationally, there exist other models. For instance, Netflix and Amazon are working on the syndication model.

There is no doubt in my mind that syndication will be a significant revenue source for us, because we have limited number of episodes and because a lot of our shows comprise independent (that is, un-linked) episodes.

We are on the verge of signing few syndication deals.

The model will work well in diaspora markets - in places like West Asia, South East Asia, Australia, UK and US, where Indian content is popular.

I don't want to diss any existing models.

The TV model is such that ratings will always be important. We have to be as accurate as possible, given the cost, statistical model, and validity (of the currency).

BARC will be a positive step forward, but how it changes things is to be seen.