Discovery Channel
#1 Non-fiction media Industry • 1985 - Founded by John Hendricks
– Cable Educational Network Inc.
• 1986 – Investments from
– United Cable Television Corp – Cox Cable Communication Inc. – Tele-Communications Inc. Subscription increased to 7 million
• 1987 – Agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation to telecast programs in Japan • 1990 – Launched television’s first Interactive Video – Discovery Interactive Library
Changed name to Discovery Communications Inc (DCI) • 1994 – Launched Programs into few other Asian countries
• 1995 – Extended programs to Canada & India
– Launched Online service – Discovery Channel Online – Acquired Discovery Store Inc. – Launched Consumer Catalog - Discovery Channel Catalog
• 1996 – Launched in Brazil(in Portuguese)
– Entered into Europe (Germany, Austria & Switzerland) – Subscription increased to 101.4 million
• 1997 – ranked #1 media brand by Total Research’s EquiTrend Study
– Partnered with The Media Group to enter into Turkey – JV with BBC to launch BBC America
• 2002 – world’s most widely distributed television brand, aired in over 155 countries with 700 million subscribers. 14 brands , 33 networks and 33 languages. • 2010 - 1.5 billion Cumulative subscribers across 180 countries
Private Television in India
• Economic and Social reforms in 1991 • High Demand from Indian Television Viewers • Star TV- Launched MTV; Star Plus; BBC Prime Sports ; Star Chinese Channel • Zee TV –First Private owned Indian Channel • Discovery Channel Came to India in 1995
Market Need
• Need for Speciality Channel • Infotainment Channel • Parents worry about wrong influence of TV on their children
Discovering India
• In 1995 Indian Television market was dominated by entertainment channels • First channel to provide Infotainment Programs • Programs related to nature; wildlife; science and technology in English Discovery Channel Animal Planet Discovery Travel and Living Discovery Science Discovery Turbo
• 3 million households in first year of operation
• Reached 10 million households by 1999
• 79.5 million cumulative subscriber base in 2011
Market Trends
• Launch of specialty or niche channels, which achieve breakeven faster because of lower investments • Near immediate broadcast of movies upon release pushing up content acquisition costs; switchback to the outright exclusive rights model from syndication model to improve viewership ratings but at a higher cost • Overseas markets gaining importance as an additional source of revenues for Indian broadcasters
Market Growth
• • • • 1992- 412000 Urban Households in India Nov 1992 – 1.3 million Households 1994 – 11.8 million out of 32.4 million households The Indian television industry, consisting of television distribution, advertising and content, has reported a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of ~13.8% over the period 2005-2009 increasing to Rs. 26,550 crore. • 2011- 71 million out of 130 million homes. • Growing at a robust rate of 8-10 % • Growth of Channels to 960 in 2010 from 120 in 2003.
Revenues
• Globally 1.5 billion Cumulative subscribers across 180 countries • 79.5 million cumulative subscriber base in india • Global Revenue is US $ 3.5 billion • Asian Market Revenue is US $640 million • Indian market account for 10-12 % of Asian market is US $ 69 million • India only accounts for 2% of global sales • Japan; India; Australia Largest market for DiscoveryAsia
MARKETING MIX
Product
• Programs aired in India possess at least 10%culturally neutral content. • Discovery channel was known for its nature and animal programming • Offered programs based on non-fiction focusing on themes of history; popular science and knowledge about different countries in the world.
Promotional
• Sponsoring inter school quiz programs • Launching educator guide to help teachers use channel as an educational source. • In 2002-conducted a contest for students -entered into tie up with Canon India Ltd -imaging contests in around 75 schools in 7 cities • Discovery Exhibition -students watched the channel’s program ‘Popular Mechanics for Kids’ -created things under teachers directions -tie up with Colgate Dental Cream
• Discovery also came up with the novel concept of programming guides to provide information about Discovery programs for every quarter
Place
• Distribution channel was through LCOs and DTHs • Discovery entered into a joint venture with Sony Entertainment Television (Sony), known as SET Discovery, with an equity structure of 74:26 • Discovery announced that it had launched a 24-hour feed in Tamil with its ties with Vijay TV
Price
• Pay channel • Revenue generation model : Advertising & Subscription at 90 : 10 • 250-280 crore of Ad revenue annually
SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
• • • • Company’s broad diversification Farsighted technological focus Talent pool Business of making video games-educational power of video games • Association with established brands • Content Programming • India specific programs
WEAKNESSES
• Technological focus excludes the less techsavvy demographic
• No single shows that are big hit
OPPORTUNITIES
• Educational media market • Existing expansive online presence • New era of HD Channels • India is a Technological Hub; young nation with a thirst for knowledge.
THREATS
• No longer the only provider of streaming content online • Under declaration of Subscribers by LCOs
Situation Analysis Political
• Gulf war 1990 • In 1990, Govt. of India liberalized the economy on the ground of severe foreign exchange crisis. The process included:
Removal of the numerous restrictions on foreign trade and The increased role of private equity in Indian market
Economic
• Liberalized Economy • High Disposable Income of Consumers in a growing Economy. • Dominating Economy in Asia-Pacific
Social
• The customer base is divided across different regional languages. • The concept of non fiction channel were new to the indian public.
Technological
• The mode of distribution has to shift from analog to digital. Digitisation would also remove bandwidth constraints, facilitating carriage of a larger number of channels and thereby leading to rationalisation of carriage fees • The requirement of large investments, to an extent, has slowed the progress of digitisation in the country. • To fund the use of set-top boxes at the customer end and also to consolidate LCOs/ MSOs through buyouts
Marketing Strategies Implemented by Discovery
• New strategy ‘My time on Discovery’ implemented in October 2001 • Providing advertisers a focused platform to reach out to their key target group. • Introduced Programming blocks targeting different viewer segments on basis of broadcast time.
Market Demograhics
• Six Time Bands introduced in August 2001 Sunrise( Weekdays 7am to 9 am) Discovery Kids ( weekdays 3pm to 4 pm) Action Zone (week days 4pm- 5pm; repeat at 11pm) Prime time (weekdays 8pm-11 pm) Friday showcase (9pm-11 pm) Super sundays( 7 am to midnight) • Telecasts in Hindi & Regional Languages
New Strategies
• April 2002 extended to 9 time bands Woman ‘s Hour (weekdays from noon to 1 pm) Amazing Animals Late night Discovery • Came up with Innovative Program "World Birth Day” • Launched India Hour ( Sundays) • Launched Tech Tuesday
Implications of New Strategy
• Viewership among women increased by 21 % • Viewership among kids increased by 22% • Prime Time band Viewer ship Increased by 43 % • Differentiated discovery from NGC
Success Factors of Discovery in India
• Innovative Programs • Parents who were convinced about influence of TV on children. • Programs aired in India possess at least 10%culturally neutral content • Offered programs based on non-fiction focusing on themes of history; popular science and knowledge about different countries in the world.
Crisis faced by Discovery Channel
• In 1999 Discovery became Pay channel charging Rs 5 per household • High Consumer Demand; increased to 12 million within 6 weeks. • Indian consumers perceived it to be channel airing nature and animal and regarded as educational channel • Kiran Karnik former MD; “Discovery India has to rework its Brand Positioning”
Reforms made by Karnik
• Extensive Brand building exercise to change its brand image in the country. • Tied up with DD to air discovery programs in Hindi • In 2000; entered in revenue sharing agreement with Vijay TV to air in Tamil
Change in Leadership
• Deepak Shourie took over as MD of Discovery India by 2000. • Realized Perception of consumers as niche channel airing programs on wildlife and nature. • Market Research was conducted to understand perception. Population of Viewers consisted of urban males between 25-54 years. Around 60% of its viewership was from Sec-A and Sec-B Popular with kids and their parents.
Future Plans
• Communicate the Sheer width and intense variety of programming on discovery.
• Future plans, India: Expand into newer urban and semi-urban territories. Promote Animal Planet. Launch new lifestyle channel
Key Learning's
• Adaptability of Discovery to suit the diverse customer base in India. • Discovery ventured in to Niche channels which has become the Trend in a growing industry. • Successful Brand Positioning done over a period of time.