MUMBAI: Close on the heels of launching an India specific campaign 'What Affects the World, Affects You', BBC World announced the start of its 6-part mini series Take Off, on the aviation industry in India, with a panel discussion on the booming sector.
The mini series will be aired on BBC World every Tuesday at 9 pm, and will talk to leading industry experts, asking them about the recent developments and exploring and analysing the future of this sector. With six repeats planned across weekdays and weekends the show is a key feature of the channel's March programming
Region specific programming such as the sector stories on India is undertaken by the channel only in a few countries. BBC World is aggressively looking at the Indian market where it has to compete with both national news channels as well as international news channel CNN.
Speaking about the mini series, BBC World head of MarCom Vaishali Sharma said, "The mini series to be aired on our global network takes a look at the Indian aviation sector through the years. Our correspondent Karishma Vaswani had covered the 'Aeroshow' at Yelahanka and the excitement that has been generated over this sector in the past few years made it ideal to showcase this sector. The aviation industry has witnessed phenomenal growth in the last few years. With Take Off, BBC World will showcase the opportunities and achievements created by the Indian boom in the aviation sector, plus the threats."
As part of the promotional activity, the channel also had a brief panel discussion on the budget and growth of the aviation segment with Go Air managing director Jeh Wadia and Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (Capa) CEO Kapil Kaul, along with minister for civil aviation Praful Patel, who joined in via video conferencing.
The mini series, which was commissioned to Miditec, starts at the cusp of the 'Aero Show' at Yelahanka in Bangalore and traces the journey of Indian aviation through the decades. The first episode takes an overview of the industry and the various issues that surround it. The subsequent issues will probe deeper into the problems faced by low cost airlines, government apathy, infrastructure problems, airline personnel as well as the rise of the budget airlines and privatisation.
Speaking about the advertising for the show, BBC World ad sales head Seema Mohapatra mentions that while the aviation sector itself could not advertise on the show, there had been great response from other advertisers. "The aviation sector spins off so many other areas like tourism and domestic travel for business that we are bound to see advertisers in those areas as well."
The promotions for the show include a multimedia marketing campaign with BBC leveraging its radio connection. Sharma said, "We are looking at radio very actively and will use FM stations like Radio One and Radio City. The show will also be promoted through print, outdoor and online media."