The Hindu Business Line : National Geographic bullish about interactive marketing

INTERACTIVE marketing and mission property programming will form the core of National Geographic Channel's marketing initiatives, according to Mr Puneet Johar, Vice-President (Marketing) of National Geographic in India.

This follows the success of Mission Everest that propelled National Geographic Channel to the No. 1 position in the infotainment segment. As part of its interactive marketing for Mission Everest, the channel provided an opportunity to five Indians to face Mount Everest along with the Indian Army.

And now, even as the Mission Mars programme's global premiere is scheduled for January 11, the channel has lined up a contest whereby the winner and the runner-up would get to visit NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Pasadena, California.

Speaking to Business Line while on a visit here, Mr Johar said National Geographic was the fourth-largest distributed satellite television channel in India with a penetration in 24 million cable and satellite households in the country. The channel was growing at 25-30 per cent per annum both in terms of viewership and revenue. India, he said, was among the top-five markets for National Geographic worldwide.

Mr Johar declined to divulge details pertaining to the channel's revenue except saying that 70 per cent of the revenue was generated from subscriptions while the balance was accounted for by advertisements.

Interactive marketing initiatives account for 15 per cent of the total revenue that is generated from advertisements. Twenty per cent of the channel's total revenue is spent on promotions and branding initiatives.

According to him, there has been a distinct shift in viewers' preferences in favour of channels that provide "information but in entertainment format". Parents of young children, too, want programming content to become more educative.

"In this regard, we have a winning product," he said, adding that National Geographic commissions 300-400 hours of programming every year across four broad categories - adventure, wildlife, people and places, and science and technology.

More Stories on : Promotions & Offers | Entertainment & Leisure | Radio/TV

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
National Geographic bullish about interactive marketing