MUMBAI: A black-and-white web series on the story of India’s prime coaching hub Kota and the unusual journey of an IIT aspirant became the talk of the digital town recently. The Viral Fever’s (TVF) Kota Factory is just another addition to its avant-garde approach to content which boasts of smashing hits like Permanent Roommates, TVF Pitchers and TVF Tripling.
TVF finds itself confronted with more than 30 OTT players today compared to a handful a few years ago when it was the leading player. TVF chief content officer and originals head Sameer Saxena says that despite the changes in the industry, staying true to good storytelling remains the basic necessity.
“Our content strategy has not changed much in a way that back then we wanted to tell good stories and we want to do the same even now. More OTT platforms are coming in and we have a wider audience base in the whole digital medium. If you keep making good shows, you will expand, your audience base will also expand and that that has happened with us,” Saxena said in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com.
Saxena also shared that TVF aims to do at least 25 shows including returning seasons of previous shows in this calendar year and new genres, a noticeable increase from 2018’s 17 or 18 shows. Some of these have already been released.
The content variety includes hardcore drama, supernatural thriller, horror and future plans for non-fiction including reality shows and documentaries. While they have shied away from the regional market till now, that is also in the pipeline. In addition to that, TVF is working on a full-length feature film which will be released in the second half of next year.
The inspiration for Kota Factory came from within since many TVF employees are IIT graduates and have made trips to Kota, including Saxena himself. Plans for season two are also being drawn.
“We never go with just an idea. For us, ideas have no birth until we convert an idea into a proper script. What is on the pages is most crucial. We read the pilot or the whole season arch of the show and if that works for us we make it. We won’t actually take into account any other factors. For us, the story is important,” he commented on the process of giving a project the green signal. However, Saxena did not reveal the amount of increase in content investment. TVF recently received a fresh batch of funds from Tiger Global which will Saxena said will be put to use for upgrading content.
Saxena also spoke on the two-pronged strategy of TVF’s brand integrations. Brands approach TVF or the company talks to brands depending on who gets the idea, as long as there is an organic fit.
Brands are more mature, intelligent and understanding of the digital medium today and the kind of integrations they should ask for. “Earlier, there were times, and still there are cases when brands ask for a 30-second of the product. On digital, 30 seconds is going to put the audience off and they are going to comment not just only on the content but also on the brand. It’s going to harm the brand also. That used to happen a lot before but now they understand,” he added.
Saxena agrees that consolidation is bound to take place as the industry settles in about three years with only the best storytellers surviving. He is confident that TVF will not just be a survivor but also a leader. However, Saxena believes in co-existence rather than fierce competition. TVF recently released Tripling season 2 both on TVF play and SonyLIV with the rationale behind the move being audience expansion as the two platforms attract different consumers. He added that Tripling got “more phenomenal” viewership on SonyLIV.
“I strongly believe there is no competition. I think digital is still at a very nascent stage, it's just expanding. There is an audience for every type of content. We can all co-exist and work with each other. There is an audience for Sacred Games as well as Yeh Meri Family. Both the shows got released just one week apart and both the shows got their viewership. A lot more expansion is yet to happen,” he commented.
