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Viacom 18 Media has entered the English general entertainment genre with its new channel, Comedy Central. Part of Viacom's global offering,
Comedy Central will be the sixth channel in its bouquet, which comprises such channels as Colors, Nickleodeon, MTV, vh1 and Sonic.
Speaking to Business Line , Mr Ferzad Palia, Senior V-P and GM, English Entertainment, Viacom 18 Media said: “The English general entertainment genre has few channels and is still underserved. With Comedy Central we are targeting those who like light viewing programmes.”
Comedy Central will compete with channels such as Star World, AXN, Zee Café and Big CBS in its genre.
The English general entertainment and infotainment genre generates ad revenues to the tune of Rs 250 crore, as estimated by Viacom 18.
Apart from advertising revenues, Comedy Central hopes to tap into new revenue streams, such as merchandising, digital, mobile and on-ground activities.
As Mr Palia adds: “Our objective is to monetise every platform and, going forward, even subscription revenues will increase with respect to the ordinance on digitalisation, which has recently been passed.”
Merchandising
In fact, merchandising is expected to form a considerable revenue stream and the channel is looking at the possibility of setting up standalone stores under its name.
“We are looking at the possibility of having stores along the lines of what the MTV channel had done in the past. There will be merchandise related to our shows, selling clothing like T-shirts, to begin with,” said Mr Palia.
Sun 18, the JV company between Network 18 and Sun, will distribute the new channel which has a target to reach out to 20 million households.
Comedy Central expects to bring in shows like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and South Park , along with global shows such as Saturday Night Live , 30 Rock , The Office , Seinfeld , The Wonder Years and That 70s Show . The channel will have a mix of all genres within comedy, ranging from sitcoms to sketch comedy, and British comedy, to stand-ups and gags.
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