On 14 October, India's first 24-hour non-stop Punjabi music channel, Balle-Balle will complete one year of its existence. For Balle-Balle, it has been an eventful year, marked by some landmark achievements that have catapulted it to the top of the TRP charts with a reach of 15 million homes. But Balle-Balle has no intention of resting on its laurels. With major plans of growth and expansion, it is striving to take on the big guns like MTV and Channel [V].
Upinder Nayar, CEO of Balle-Balle, promoted by STV Enterprises Ltd, retraces the channel's journey and shares some of its expansion plans with indiantelevision.com.
Excerpts:
Has Balle-Balle overcome all the teething problems and has the channel evolved in the way envisaged? Then there was the desire to fill the vacuum that we knew existed in the market. We found that there was no exclusive Punjabi music channel to cater to the growing demand of the audiences. The world over, you find people, even non-Punjabi speaking people, dancing to the beats of Bhangra and Punjabi folklore. Balle-Balle is the one channel that gives these people a chance to be part of the fun that is Punjabi music. |
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Are you satisfied with the pace of growth and development of the channel? What surprised us was that this happened virtually from day one. They wouldn't have done that if they didn't have confidence in the product and the confidence reposed by them has grown over the last one year. So much so that today we have between 300 and 400 promos being run on Balle-Balle every day which is more than 50 per cent of the market share in music promos. You'll agree it's not a mean achievement, especially if you consider the fact that six months ago, the share stood at less than 10 per cent. |
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A year may be a short time in the life of a television channel but it's long enough to achieve certain landmarks. What are the major landmarks in the growth of the channel? We were the first to hold a live event in Punjabi music with the participation of more than 16 top artistes. That was on 14 February 2003. Prior to that, we had a New Year show and another one on the occasion of Lohri with both involving the top stars of the Punjabi music industry. For us, these events have been major achievements since no one got so many top stars together on one platform before that. |
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A year later, where does Balle-Balle stand in terms of market share and popular feedback? Coming to popular feedback, it is reflected in the TRPs. In the 32nd to the 35th week, Balle-Balle's share stood, respectively, at 2.93, 3.48, 3.18 and 2.78. And the fact that a host of fresh faces and singers have tasted success for the first time through Balle-Balle itself is an indicator of how popular the channel is with the masses. What's more, with most big brands advertising on our channel, I think we have every reason to be satisfied with the way we have grown. Our list of clients ranges from consumer giants like Gillette, Johnson & Johnson, Samsung and Wipro to companies like the Maruti, Bolero, ICICI, Ranbaxy, Perfetti, Lexi Pens, Seagram etc. Pepsi was the main sponsor of our live show. |
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What kind of rates do you offer to your advertisers? |
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Any areas where you feel you could have done more? Since we are still young, we can afford to be flexible by revolving our programmes around artistes, our clients and the needs of the industry. That's a distinct advantage we hold over other music channels and we don't want to lose that. The fact that we are flexible not just in our content and programming, but in our entire approach has helped us reach the top slot. |
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How do you compare the channel with other Punjabi music channels in terms of content and programming, as well as technical quality? |
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You seem to lay a lot of importance on the interactive aspect of your channel. Why is that? |
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How wide is the reach of the channel, within and outside the country? Outside India, Balle-Balle is beamed through Thaicom satellite, which has its footprints across 64 countries. Though we have not tried to push our channel outside the country, individual and SMS-based feedback received by us shows that our channel is immensely popular in the Gulf region and in the entire South Asian region, particularly Pakistan. In the Gulf, Dubai, Bahrain and Oman are some of the places where, as per our feedback, it's a major hit. The fact that Punjabi pop music is increasingly becoming synonymous with Indipop in the country and outside is evident in individual responses we get from Indians and foreigners from across the region. They tell us that they have seen the channel in countries as geographically apart as Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Nepal and even Mauritius, not to mention Sri Lanka. |
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How do you rate the competition that Balle Balle faces today, not only from other Punjabi music channels but also from the audio and video Punjabi music industry? |