In 2000, it entered into a revenue sharing agreement with Vijay TV13 to provide two hours of Discovery programs in Tamil. Under the agreement, both channels shared the revenues earned through sale of advertisement slots during the broadcast of Discovery programs. In December 2000, Karnik announced his resignation and Deepak Shourie (Shourie) took over as MD of Discovery India. By 2001, Discovery realized that Indian viewers' perception of the channel had not yet changed - they still perceived it as a niche channel airing programs on wildlife and nature.
|Changing Perception | |
|After Shourie took over as MD, he commissioned a market research to find | |
|out how Indian viewers perceived Discovery. The research highlighted the | |
|following points: | |
| | |
|• Discovery channel viewers consisted of mostly urban males between 25 - | |
|54 years. | |
|• Around 60% of its viewership was from the SEC A and B.14 | |
|• Discovery was very popular with kids and their parents. | |
| | |
|According to the study, the channel needed to pay more attention to its | |
|image and its communication with viewers to improve its performance in | |
|India. The study revealed that viewers loved to watch the channel but were| |
|not aware of program content and unclear about broadcast timings. Shourie | |
|said, "Discovery gives you so much - from travel to adventure to medicine | |
|to understanding sex, to murder mysteries. | |

So the first issue was to communicate the sheer width and intense variety of the programming on Discovery."15 The second issue was changing the image of the channel. Discovery was regarded as a serious channel with infotainment programs.

However, according to channel sources, unlike its image, Discovery offered a variety of programs covering a range of subjects and topics, such as Junkyard Wars (two teams competing to be the first to build a machine out of scrap found in a junkyard), Fabulous Fortunes (this program explored the sources of wealth in the 20th century) and Understanding Sex (this explored the origins of sex) etc.
In August 2001, to address the above two issues, Discovery announced new programming strategy with around 118 hours of new programming per week. This strategy was implemented in October 2001. The new strategy - 'My Time on Discovery'- was based on viewer needs and viewing habits.

Commenting on the new programming strategy, Shourie said, "The concept of 'My Time on Discovery' recognizes the viewing convenience of each family member individually and collectively, by giving them what they want from Discovery at the time that they want it, while still catering to the family as a whole. In this way the new viewer response will be 'Discovery is a must watch for me', and in the process provide advertisers a focused platform to reach out to their key target groups."16

Changing Perception Contd...
According to channel sources, the new strategy was also aimed at attracting advertisers. Shourie said, "We've achieved critical mass, and now the objective is to monetise the existing viewership." Discovery introduced programming blocks targeting different viewer segments on the basis of broadcast time. Time bands were introduced on the basis of the viewing patterns of viewers across all age groups.
|In August 2001, Discovery announced the launch of six time bands - Sunrise| |
|(Weekdays 7 a.m to 9 a.m), Discovery Kids (Weekdays 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.), | |
|Action Zone (Weekdays 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. with a repeat at 11 p.m.), Prime | |
|Time (Weekdays 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), Friday Showcase (9 p.m. to 11 p.m.) and| |
|Super Sundays (7 a.m. to midnight) (Refer Exhibit III). | |
| | |
|In April 2002, Discovery extended its six time bands to nine bands with | |
|the introduction of Woman's Hour (Weekdays from noon to 1 p.m.), Amazing | |
|Animals and Late Night Discovery. | |
| | |
|According to analysts, the new strategy highlighted the range of programs | |
|offered by Discovery and also differentiated the Discovery channel from | |
|NGC. Analysts felt that with increasing competition from NGC, Discovery | |
|was forced to differentiate itself from the kind of programs offered by | |
|NGC. However, Discovery sources did not acknowledge that NGC was their | |
|competitor. Shourie commented, "National Geographic is more nature | |
|oriented. We have a much wider range." | |

Along with new programming blocks, Discovery also came up with innovative programs. One such innovative program was 'World Birth Day,' which depicted the preparations that take place before and after the birth of a child. The program showed the emotions of mothers-to-be in nine different countries, who gave birth on the same day. The program aimed at capturing aspects of different cultures and customs connected to the birth of a child.

The channel also launched India Hour, (aired on Sundays), which aired programs on India and its culture. Discovery also announced the launch of programs such as Tech Tuesday, which targeted people interested in technological developments such as spy gadgets, smart bombs, and Trauma, which depicted the medical emergencies. According to reports, Discovery's programming strategy was successful. By August 2002, its viewership among women increased by 21% and among kids by 22%. In the prime time band its viewership increased by 43%.
Marketing 'Discovery'
Along with program restructuring, Discovery focused on marketing initiatives to enhance its image among viewers. It conducted a yearly audio-visual quiz contest for school students across India to increase awareness about the channel among kids. The contest was hosted by India's popular quizmaster, Derek O' Brian. The quiz covered five categories of Discovery's programs - Science & Technology, History, World Culture, Human Adventure and Nature. Analysts felt that by conducting quiz contests for students, Discovery was able to increase brand awareness among children and gain more market share.

In August 2002, Discovery also conducted a contest for students. To do so, it entered into tie up with Canon India Ltd., (wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-based Canon Singapore Pte Limited). Discovery's executives conducted imaging contests in around 75 schools in seven cities (Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune and Ahmedabad). Analysts felt that this contest helped the channel increase its brand awareness among children and increase its viewership ratings.

Discovery also conducted Discovery Exhibition, wherein, students from Classes VI to IX watched the channel's program 'Popular Mechanics for Kids' and created things under teachers' directions. This was conducted by Discovery in association with Colgate Dental Cream to create awareness among children about the channel's programs. Discovery also came up with the novel concept of programming guides to provide information about Discovery programs for every quarter.
|The first program guide was launched in association with India Today | |
|magazine in August 2002. In April 2003, Discovery entered into a tie-up | |
|with Businessworld17 to provide a programming guide for the period April -| |
|June 2003. It also used direct mailers to inform viewers of the channel's | |
|programs. | |
| | |
|Discovery also conducted contests to attract viewers to channel. In April | |
|2003, it launched the 'Win With Discovery Channel Contest.' In this | |
|contest, viewers were expected to register online or e-mail their | |
|particulars to the Discovery channel. Discovery channel entered the name | |
|of the viewers in its database and held a lucky draw every month (the | |
|contest covered a period of 3 months). The lucky draw winner was awarded | |
|numerous prizes. | |
| | |
|Discovery also advertised extensively in the media to enhance its brand | |
|image and increase its brand awareness. It advertised through television | |
|channels (Refer Exhibit IV) and the print media. In the metros it also | |
|used outdoor advertising. | |

Consolidating the Presence
Discovery announced that it would bring in new programs to consolidate the gains made by the new programming strategy. It planned to source world-class programs from Discovery's 14 channels across the globe. Analysts pointed out that none of the programs were produced in India by Discovery. Commenting on why none of the Discovery programs were produced in India, channel sources said that producing one program for Discovery cost around $1.5 million and that revenues in India did not match the costs incurred for producing programs.

According to Shourie, "If you incur that kind of cost, the revenues just don't come in India." In 2000, NGC entered into a distribution and marketing agreement with STAR network in India. According to analysts, this move helped it successfully increase its reach. It was reported that while Discovery was strong in northern India, NGC was strong in South India.
To increase its presence in South India, Discovery announced that it would launch a 24-hour feed in Tamil. In March 2002, it snapped its ties with Vijay TV and announced that it would air Tamil programs in the family time band (8 p.m. to 10 p.m.) on weekdays. It was reported that the channel would offer programs on the basis of themes - history on Monday, science on Tuesday, forensics on Wednesday, health on Thursday and premiers on Friday.

Commenting on the channel's decision, Shourie said, "With Tamil, we hope to capture a large Tamil-speaking viewer base to the channel and expand viewership in south India." In June 2002, in order to enhance its distribution reach, Discovery entered into a joint venture with Sony Entertainment Television (Sony), known as SET Discovery, with an equity structure of 74:26. The majority stake was held by Sony.

Commenting on the joint venture, Shantonu Aditya, Head (Distribution), SET India, said, "With Discovery joining our existing bouquet of channels, the One Alliance partnership,18 announced earlier this year, is in place to offer viewers an enhanced genre of programming supported by combined distributed strength. We are now strategically positioned to be the No 1 television network in the country." According to reports, the alliance would help Discovery increase its reach from around 21 million homes (in 2002) to around 28 million homes.
|Discovering the Future | |
|Through its alliance with Sony for distribution and marketing, Discovery | |
|announced that it expected to gain a 50% increase in both advertising and | |
|subscription revenues. The channel announced that in the year 2002 around | |
|330 brands had advertised on the channel and that the channel had | |
|registered a 50% increase in ad revenues. According to analysts, | |
|Discovery's decision to air programs on the basis of viewership patterns | |
|helped it attract advertisers. | |
| | |
|In order to consolidate its position, in January 2003, Discovery announced| |
|the launch of a new series The Blue Planet, which explored under water | |
|life. This program was co-produced with BBC and it took 5 years to | |
|complete the series at a cost of around 7 million pounds. Along with Blue | |
|Planet, Discovery also announced the launch of new programs such as, | |
|Special on World War II, Bismarck, Great Romances of the 20th Century, and| |
|Kitchen Chemistry etc. | |

Discovery also announced the launch of a new program series in January 2003, featuring around 18 films made by world-renowned producers. The films would be aired in April, May and June 2003. Some of films to be aired were, Great Cats of India, Himalayas - Descending India, Immortal Capital - Many Cities of Delhi, Arthur C. Clark's Mysterious India, Konarak - Chariot of the Sun, Wild and Dangerous and Buddha's Mountain Wilderness.

However, analysts were skeptical about the channel's future in India. They felt that with even NGC announcing that it would air new non-wildlife programs on its channel, it would be very difficult for Discovery to increase viewership. Discovery also faced stiff competition from specialty channels such as Cartoon Network, CNBC and CNN, which, though they offered a different genre of programs, attracted viewers to their channels. Will Discovery garner more revenues and increase its viewership base in India? Only time will tell.