More than just F.R.I.E.N.D.S!

Romedy Now to launch 'Friends with Better Lives' on April 1. The series has been written by Dana Klein of F.R.I.E.N.D.S fame.

Times Television Network's six-month old channel Romedy Now has all the reasons to rejoice! Not only is it doing well on the TRP charts, it is bringing to India one of the most anticipated shows of the US, 'Friends with Better Lives'.

The show, written by F.R.I.E.N.D.S' writer and producer Dana Klein, will be launched on CBS on March 31. Within 24 hours of its US telecast, Romedy Now will serve it to its Indian audiences at 11 pm, starting April 1. The repeat of the show will also be aired through the week at convenient time slots.

Starring Kevin Connolly (as Bobby), Majandra Delfino (as Andi), James Van Der Beek (as Will), Zoe Lister-Jones (as Kate), Brooklyn Decker (as Jules) and Rick Donald (as Lowell), the weekly sitcom follows the lives of six friends. All of them are at different stages of their lives and think that the other friend's life is better than their own. So, in a way they want something that the other friend has.

According to Ajay Trigunayat, CEO, English Entertainment Channels, Times Television Network, since the launch of Romedy Now in September last year, the channel has been having distribution issues, and has also been having teething problems in terms of content. There were few shows that were scheduled to be launched in October 2013, but Romedy Now could not launch them in India because of the delay in their US telecast.

However, the channel has now geared up to bring fresh content to its viewers. It is currently airing three shows that were launched this year itself- Witches of East End (aired every Sunday at 8 pm), Ally McBeal (aired Monday to Thursday at 8 pm) and Kitchen Confidential (aired every Friday at 8:30 pm).

The channel is betting big on Friends with Better Lives (FWBL). While the promos of the show are already running on the network channels of TTN, Romedy Now will leverage the print publications of The Times of India Group to promote the show. It also has digital promotion plans on the internet as well as on mobile. Besides, the channel aims to engage with the consumers in selective cinema halls across the eight metros.

FWBL will also be promoted on channels outside the TTN channels. "The intention is to buy reach-based channels rather than engagement-based channels," says Trigunayat.

Romedy Now has around 50 advertisers on board. It is still negotiating with a few for the sponsorship deal for FWBL; however, nothing is finalised yet. "We want a higher premium for the show. We are asking for Rs 12000 per 10-seconds," Trigunayat adds.

After FWBL, the channel has lined up two shows - 1600 Penn and Back in the Game, which will launch sometime in end-April or early May. Later, the channel will air a couple of library shows before it starts offering new content again by September-October.

Trigunayat is a proud executive as Romedy Now has touched high numbers. In Week 10 of TAM (C&S, 15+, 8 metros) data provided by the channel, Romedy Now rated 966 GVTs as STAR World got 515 GVTs, AXN got 433 GVTs, Zee Cafe got 333 GVTs, Comedy Central got 141 GVTs, FX got 449 GVTs and Fox Crime got 113 GVTs.

"We are redefining the category! We have reached very close to the objective we had set out when we were launching the channel. When we had launched Romedy Now, it had distribution issues and was low on availability. The reach was only 0.25 per cent but today you are looking at a channel that is twice the viewership of a STAR World or AXN. Our reach is 4.5 per cent and time spent per viewer is 42 minutes as against 16 minutes or 17 minutes in the category," Trigunayat mentions.

He adds that the channel is today available on all DTH platforms except Tata Sky because of the bandwidth issue with the DTH operator.

Unlike many broadcasters who feel content is king, Trigunayat feels that the viewership of a particular show or a movie highly depends on the channel it is airing on. He doesn't like Romedy Now being categorised as a movie channel or a GEC channel.

"We are content agnostic. So we can air movies or series. Currently we are doing fiction but tomorrow we can do non-fiction also. Romedy Now is a very well-defined channel destination which will emerge over a period of time. Today there are over 700 channels and on an average a person makes a choice of 70 channels over a period of time. On a daily basis he will watch 5 to 10 channels. So to be selected out of those 700 channels, it is channel identity, it is a destination which will make a difference. There are loose talks that content is king and people are channel agnostic and it is all about content that matters. But in my opinion, it is the brand identity which matters more than anything else. It is truer when you are dealing with urban, affluent audiences who have to make significantly more choices than people who are less affluent," Trigunayat avers.

Going forward, Trigunayat wants Romedy Now to be very popular and doesn't want it to be known as a niche channel. "Therefore what we have set for ourselves is reach target of 7.5 per cent, and in the subsequent year increase the reach to 10 per cent. Our time spent target was 25 minutes which has shot to 42 minutes but we are struggling in reach which is 4.5 per cent. Our lack of reach has been compensated by high time spent but we wanted it to be the other way round- increase the reach, may be can take a hit on the time spent a little bit," Trigunayat says.

"As far as the distribution is concerned, in another three months, our distribution is going to transition and we are going to expand our reach from 8 metros to 1 million+ towns. By the end of this financial year, Romedy Now will be available across the country," Trigunayat asserts.