The Hindu Business Line : HomeShop 18 tunes into a wider audience with Colors

Mumbai, Jan. 6 Leveraging the strength of Network 18’s television channels, HomeShop 18, the 24-hour home shopping channel, has decided to create programmes to reach out to a wider audience through the new general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors.

Considering the Viacom 18-owned Colors has been gaining television rating points (TRPs) and riding high in the GEC genre, reaching out to an extended audience through exclusive shows is now being explored by HomeShop 18.

“We would be leveraging the distribution strength of the network and creating shows specific to the look and feel of a particular channel. This would include the new GEC channel Colors,” said Mr Sundeep Malhotra, CEO, HomeShop 18.

Currently, it has created shows for news channels such as CNBC Awaaz and IBN 7 on the network. “The products and value propositions would be based on the profile of viewers of that particular channel. The purpose is to convert viewers into customers for the entire network,” added Mr Malhotra.

Extended audience

Considering the home shopping channel is currently not available on the DTH platform, reaching out to extended audiences through the rest of the network’s channels is a way of leveraging synergies in the business.

The nine-month-old HomeShop 18 is currently the only shopping channel on television and wants to differentiate itself from the rest of the ‘teleshopping’ companies on air.

“There are differences between us and teleshopping where such companies simply buy airtime to sell their products. Besides, these are limited to categories like wellness and spirituality,” claims Mr Malhotra.

With nearly 300 brands across 90 product categories, HomeShop 18 expects to offer its television channel as an extended distribution stream for smaller regional brands and even new brand launches.

“We are even open to global brands being launched through our channel and region-specific brands looking for a national distribution platform. Our channel is expected to serve as an alternative distribution model for brands,” added Mr Malhotra.

Currently, the largest category on the home shopping channel is that of consumer electronics with brands such as Nokia, Samsung and Philips followed by kitchen appliances, jewellery and lifestyle brands.

“We make between Rs 24 crore and Rs 25 crore every month and are growing at 50 per cent on a monthly basis,” Mr Malhotra says.

Value retailing

New categories to be added in the future include packaged organic food.

Expecting ‘value’ retailing to pick up in times of slowdown, Mr Malhotra says, “In our case we have a value proposition and discounts range between 10 and 70 per cent. Value retailing is the best option for consumers in times of a slowdown.”