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Harsha Subramaniam

CHENNAI, Nov. 13

THE sun seems to be getting brighter for the Sun Network. While the network's flagship brand Sun TV continues its hold its leadership position among Tamil satellite television channels, its cousin Gemini TV is consolidating its position in Andhra Pradesh.

The channel, among the first few regional channels to announce its intentions of going pay, expects to have its systems in place by this month end. In an interview to Business Line, Mr Sharad Kumar, Director, Gemini TV confirmed that Gemini TV and Teja TV would be jointly offered to the cable operator at Rs 10 per month. "The market has matured and consumers are willing to pay. When they have no issues paying to watch a Hindi channel like Star or Sony, we are sure they would pay for their favourite Telugu channel," he explains.

Mr Kumar's confidence arises out the channel's overwhelming dominance in the viewership game. According to a report (week ended Oct 26) from TAM Media Research, the channel recorded an audience share of 39 per cent in Cable & Satellite (C&S) homes in Hyderabad and 37 per cent across the State. The report also reveals that out of the top 60 shows, almost 50 shows belong to Gemini and competitor ETV does not even figure in the first forty (C&S homes in Hyderabad).

Not so long ago, the channel was the number two brand in the market with ETV hogging the limelight. Mr Kumar says the channel dislodged ETV by offering the right balance of the usual fare - soaps, music and dance shows, movies, movie-based shows, news and current affairs programming.

Its modus operandi was simple - repeat what has worked for Sun TV and avoid what hasn't. "We have a successful model in Sun TV and we learn from experience," he says. Initially, Gemini's prime time programming was packed with serials dubbed from Tamil. Now, the channel boasts of `original' content on prime time. Even on non prime time band, the dubbed serials are gradually being replaced, says Mr Kumar.

Teja TV, Sun Network's other channel in Andhra Pradesh, is playing the perfect second fiddle. When viewership for soaps and serials on Gemini TV began to ramp up, Mr Kumar decided to pull news programming out from the main channel and slot in on Teja. "The programming strategy of Teja TV is to complement Gemini, which is the parent channel. As of now, Teja is essentially a movie-based channel and also offers our news programming," he says.

Though Mr Kumar does not divulge revenue figures, he says that the channel's earnings are higher than industry average. "This means we are growing and are also partly eating into our competitor's share," he says.

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