Broadcasters cash in on TV premieres of hit films by experimenting with time slots

Ratings! Ratings! Ratings! And we all know what that translates into– ad revenue.

The satellite space has gained momentum in the last couple of years, with blockbusters premiering on television soon after their theatrical release. As if that wasn’t enough, broadcasters are now pushing the envelope further. Channels are experimenting with time slots to broadcast television premieres of hit films and blockbusters to gain maximum viewership from these hot properties.

Thus, we have had the TV premieres of films like No One Killed Jessica and Mere Brother Ki Dulhan airing at two time slots on the same day to maximise viewership –12 noon and 8 pm, on Colors and Sony Entertainment Television, respectively. But it was Marathi channel Star Pravah that recently broke the norm and aired the critically acclaimed Marathi film Shala, not twice, but three times on the same day.

According to Yogesh Manwani,Vice-President– Marketing, Star Pravah,“Different people have different TV viewing patterns. While most women mainly housewives prefer watching TV in the afternoon, the evening or night time band is cornered by male viewers.So we wanted optimum viewership of the film by placing it in three time bands on the same day.”

For a channel like Star Pravah, primetime on a weekday is between 6:30pm and 10.30 pm and it’s pretty much the same even on weekends. However, Shala, a film by Sujay Dahake top lining Dilip Prabhavalkar and Santosh Juvekar, was aired on Sunday at 1 pm, 7 pm and 10 pm. The advertisers’ response to the film was good and a gamut of brands advertised on the channel during these various time bands. Since ratings come in a week later, it would be premature to determine the most profitable time slot.

Manwani avers, “If a film has good content, it is likely to get good ratings regardless of how many times you air it. We hope that by next week, when the ratings come in, they are good.”

He furthur says this is a trend the channel plans to cash in on for upcoming films too. It will thus broadcast the television premiere of another Marathi film, Ladi Godi, directed by MaheshTikekar featuring Bharat Jadhav and Deepali Sayyad, three times on the same day on May 13.

Other films like Umesh Kulkarni’s Deool, which has bagged awards at international film festivals, will soon make their way to the channel too.