The Hindu Business Line : It's exciting times for Indian television

HOLLYWOOD films will continue to fascinate viewers across the world, says Mr Jonathan Spink, Chief Executive Officer, HBO Asia. And a channel such as HBO will have to keep the buzz high on films by promotions and advertisements.

In a Bollywood-film-obsessed country how do you expect to sustain growth in a Hollywood movie channel?

Hollywood films have been tremendously successful in India and worldwide. A good film is a good film. I think people appreciate good films. Hollywood movies are more than niche. Movies such as Spiderman have had tremendous success and considering the amount of advertising and promotion that has gone into Spiderman. I don't think there would be many who do not know of this film. There is a fairly good interest in such films. Films such as Lord of the rings, a trilogy, have been hugely successful.

HBO says it is a leader. Star Movies also shows interesting films, so is the case with Zee MGM and Hallmark. Isn't the fight really close?

Star Movies has had a good service. It has been in the market much longer and has established a position in India. But HBO has also grown exceptionally well from its position of being a standalone channel and not being part of any bouquet. Going forward, there is going to be a lot of interest in our channel this year starting with Spiderman. We build a lot of hype around the film.

How do the operating margins for a channel such as HBO work?

We buy a product like any other product. But our products for each of the markets - HBO Asia, South East Asia or South Asia - could vary because we do not always buy rights for all these regions. Each of these regions is distinct and the South Asian market is a very specific market. Obviously, a majority of the programmes come from our studio partners - Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, Universal and Paramount.

What is your strategy for 2004?

We will continue to work with our distribution partners - One Alliance — in India to build the business forward. We are partly advertising-supported and partly subscription-supported. The advertising segment is always a battle and we have got to convince the agencies about us. We have to build the profile of the channel up by promotions. Spiderman promotion has been able to make the channel very visible, not only to viewers but also to the advertisers. India is an interesting market. You have got DTH, now telecom operators are keen to get involved in distribution. There is room for growth in distribution of HBO now. It is exciting times for Indian television. The changes that have taken place over the last ten years have been phenomenal.

How do you tackle the cultural difference between your markets?

Television is a very local business. Indian viewing habits and interests can never be equated with those in Singapore and those in Singapore with Thailand. Hollywood movies have been accepted across all regions. India is a vast market and we would look at it as a separate entity. No doubt our product travels across all regions.