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M.V. Amarnath

Chennai , Sept. 11

THE mushrooming growth of neighbourhood channels in cities such as Madurai and Coimbatore shows the patronage they get from viewers as well as advertisers. These channels have all the ingredients of satellite channels, but the content is mostly local.

In Madurai, there are seven local channels — Vaigai TV, Karan, R, Madura, Krishna, MCC and AMN TV. In Coimbatore too, there exists equal number of channels, and in Tirunelveli, there are three.

"The response from viewers and advertisers is encouraging," said Mr T.V. Pathy, Marketing in-charge of Krishna TV, which has a presence in both Madurai and Coimbatore.

"Live programmes are widely sought-after by viewers, as a successful caller will be given prizes worth Rs 1,000 by the sponsors. We get calls both half-an-hour before and after any live programme. As such, we do not find any difficulty in getting sponsors," he added.

The rates for visual ads in neighbourhood channels are around Rs 8,500 per month (up to 40 seconds duration for a month). This may vary from one channel to another. The minimum rates in satellite channels are Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 (10 seconds duration). Here again, the rates vary from one programme to another, and also from one channel to another.

The major chunk of expense for local channels is the fee for linking with the cable operators. The rates are said to be around Rs 2.2 lakh per month. This is likely to go up by Rs 50,000 from this month.

Advertising in satellite channels is a costly proposition for some business houses whose reach is restricted to one or few localities. Hence, they look for neighbourhood television channels for their advertising campaigns.

"Neighbourhood channels are no threat for satellite channels," asserts Mr K. Balaswaminathan, Vice-President (Marketing), Jaya TV.

"However, their presence cannot be wholly discounted. Hence programmes are designed taking into account the regional viewers with participants from these areas. As far as regional advertisers are concerned, we give preference for them so that they get the desired mileage," he adds.

The advertisers in the neighbourhood channels are mostly textile showrooms, departmental stores, restaurants, educational institutions, real estate, training schools and hospitals.

Advertisements, which are scrolled at the bottom of the TV screen are priced less and are preferred by small business units. The rates are around Rs 3,500 per month.

From the advertisers' viewpoint, local channels enable them to reach their targeted audience in a geographical area. If they choose satellite channels such as Sun TV, Star Vijay, Raj or Jaya TV, which are all based in Chennai, the ad coverage will be spread in areas where they do not have any business presence, and would be a losing proposition for them.

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