Aag International Programming Strategy

By Schehzad

Table of Contents

The Brand Logistics Programming Schedule Shows

Aag – The Brand Aag is a channel for the youth. It is the very embodiment of the fact that 60% of the people in Pakistan are below 30 and figures show that the audience will be getting younger with time. It is a brand that has managed to portray its brand image perfectly amongst our target audience and Geo, the mother ship, has aided us in doing so.

The channel is fun, informative, interactive, rebellious and that is how we want to keep itr our US and UK based audience. However, there are places we need to tailor make. Aag International – The Brand I strongly feel that with Aag international, we need to be a channel that truly reflects the lifestyle of our viewers. This is the only way to be successful in a niche market of a total population nearing 1.5 million in US and UK combined. For example, we can bank on and make great programming with this fact in mind, that there is a never ending generation gap between Pakistani kids and their parents. The reason that Aag International was not successful earlier with local transmission abroad is because of the mindset and lifestyle of our western counterparts. They simply do not relate to what is happening here in Pakistan. They have their own problems with student loans, their part time job and most importantly their identity in society. The only common ground is even the youth there is extremely proud to be Pakistani and are also very vocal about it. Girls will proudly wear Shalwar Kameez on the occasion and the lads will carry the Green Flag at Melas and concerts.

Having said that, they might come here on holiday and feel like going back immediately. Brit/American born Pakistani youth are more in love with the concept of Pakistan. Pakistan is a bit of an illusion for them and this illusion we can use to connect. Plus I feel that Aag is in a great and unique position to be able to re launch in US and UK as a successful brand. Amongst Pakistani households, Geo is a permanent fixture. Pakistani kids even know the news headline jingle by heart and are making parodies of it on youtube. So if we advertise Aag International on Geo, we can get the word round to nearly the whole of our target audience who have the channel on 24/7 at home. Also if their parents approve if Geo, they will definitely approve of Aag !

Logistics Mission Statement This document should entail all values Aag holds as core plus the quality we expect under all circumstances and our philosophy and goals as a company. Language We need to keep the channel a 99% English channel. Pakistani kids born and bred in the UK and US will never speak Urdu, unless they are talking to their mum or dad ! Whereas we want to be a friend. Obviously we would like a whole host of English accents on the channel to relate to as many people. Perhaps a word here or there in Urdu or Punjabi, but no more. Location Dilemma All in house production will be done in the Karachi studio eventhough we want to portray that we are abroad. I’ve been told by Khawar we can get the backdrop to look like anything we want. We will have 2 hotline numbers, one for UK and the other for US. People will call local numbers from there and will get connected to our landline in Pakistan. In time, we can also get active studios in US and the UK. I might also go abroad from time to time and get Aag the footage we want. Target Audience Our main audience will be Pakistanis (this is something we can’t escape as it is an essential part of Geo ideology). And I suggest we stay that way rather than become a lost channel. Having said that, we would like to be welcoming to as many languages, origins and religions as possible. Although we should celebrate Eid, we also give a mention if it is Diwali or Christmas. If there is a Diwali festival going on in Trafalgar Square, we should tell the audience. Besides, Pakistanis there are more open to the idea of multi-culturalism. Going with a ‘Live and Let Live’ would be the best option. Personally, I believe it also helps bring people together. VJs Our VJs need to reflect the lifestyle we are selling. Our VJs need to dress, speak and carry the part. We need guys and girls who have lived / are living in the US and the UK. These people should be able to relate to our audience with all the little detail on what it’s like to be a Brit/American born/bred. They should’ve been to the ‘Little Pakistans’ around the world such as Jackson Heights in NY or Green Street in London so they have something to fall back on and relate to the audience. So called ‘Little Pakistans’ around the world where there is a significant Pakistani population:

Gerrard Street East, Toronto, Canada Devon Avenue, Chicago, USA Jackson Heights, New York, USA Grønland, Oslo, Norway - also referred to as "Little Karachi". Alum Rock, Birmingham, United Kingdom Green Street, London, United Kingdom Oak Lane, Bradford, United Kingdom Great Horton Road, Bradford, United Kingdom

The Atlantic Divide The USA and the UK, our territories, are two entirely different markets, so is the mind set and musical taste of youth in these 2 countries. We can daypart some programmes targeted to specific regions; otherwise we’d like to programme the station according to what is common between the 2 counterparts. I would personally advice keeping an English bias. The first reason for that is that Americans love the English accent but the English do not usually take well to the American accent. Secondly, the overseas Pakistani settlement in the UK is over 4 times bigger than the American, hence a bigger target market. Since we have to cover the 6-10 hour difference between the UK and US, we can repeat some of our programming content over the next 12 hours. London is 8 hrs ahead of LA. If I am watching something at 7pm in LA, odds are I’d be asleep at 3am if I were in London. This is again a great opportunity as we do not need a lot programming as programmes will be repeated daily. This way we can put all our energies in the pilots we decide to go ahead with. Taboos – What you can and cannot talk about As you are well aware, even the Pakistani society is opening up. We want to keep a liberal policy on our station when it comes to what VJs can and cannot talk about. At the end of they day, we need to keep the viewer viewing longer, by using that which is at least acceptable.

Programming Schedule Even though Aag International will be a separate entity to Aag TV, we would like to keep it uniform up to a certain extent. Thus we will be having programs that are loosely based on our programmes here but with different VJs & concepts suited to our target audience. As our central programming will be taking place from Pakistan, I’ve devised the prime timings of both regions. This will help in getting a better idea of what region is watching us at a specific time. Plus the shows are not infact 2 hours each. This is just a rough estimate to show what time the show should fall in on Pakistan Standard Time. Pakistan is 10-12 hrs ahead of US and 5 hrs ahead of the UK. AM PM

Pst Day

12-2 2-4 4-6 6-8 8-10 10-12 12- 2 2-4 4-6 6-8 8-10 10-12

Mon Aag on

Tour RPT

Back 2

Back

The Great Divide PREM

Old Paki

Drama RPT

Sardar Jee Nu Pucho PREM

Back 2

Back

Radio active RPT

The Great Divide RPT

Gal Power PREM

Tue Blog Buster PREM

Back 2

Back

The Great Divide PREM

Bolly Break Down PREM

Debate PREM

Aag on

Tour RPT

Back 2

Back

The Great Divide RPT

Sardar Jee Nu Pucho RPT

Wed Back 2

Back

The Great Divide PREM

Radio active PREM

Blog Buster RPT

Back 2

Back

The Great Divide RPT

Bolly Break Down RPT

Debate

RPT

Thu Football

Faluda PREM

Back 2

Back

The Great Divide PREM

Movie Madne

ss PREM

Chillin With

PREM

Sardar Jee Nu Pucho PREM

Back 2

Back

The Great Divide RPT

Radio active RPT

Movie Madne

ss RPT

Fri Bhangra Basemen

t PREM

Back 2

Back

The Great Divide PREM

Back 2

Back

Football

Faluda RPT

The Great Divide RPT

Chillin With RPT

Sardar Jee Nu Pucho RPT

Sat Back 2

Back

Oye It’s

Friday PREM

Aag on

Tour PREM

Aag Top 20 PREM

Oye It’s

Friday RPT

Bhangra Basemen

t RPT

Back 2

Back

Aag Top 20

RPT

Sun Back 2

Back

Gal Power RPT

Bhangra Basemen

t RPT

Back 2

Back

Old Paki

Drama PREM

Aag on

Tour RPT

USA Prime Time UK Prime Time Overlapping Prime Time USA & UK Off Peak

PREM Programme Premiere RPT Programme Repeat

Shows Show Name: The Great Divide (The Flagship Show) Description: Banter, Fun, Satire, Music Frequency: 5 Premieres, 5 Rpt A chat and music based show in resemblance to ‘3 to 5’. Talk about music, current affairs, coffee, etc. The show will have 2 hosts. Ideally we need a girl and a boy, one English and the other American. Plenty of banter about American and English desis, the language difference, cultural difference, what good things we have, etc. A lot of our topics will be about everyday lives of youngsters. We can use an in studio screen and banter about funny or viral video clips. We can also include emails, phone calls and interview guests. It’s great with 2 hosts as you can bounce off each other, especially if the chemistry is good. Segments

5 Mins - Would I Lie to You ? – One person has to state a fact about themselves and the other person has to guess true or false by asking as many questions as they can and see if the first can hold a straight face

2 Mins - How Did I change the world 2day – Nice things that can inspire or bring about a positive change

2 Mins - Caller of the day 2 Minutes - What is your Pind? – Overseas Pakistanis have a fascination with

the ancestral background. This will be a fun email based segment where people will email us the name of their family’s village and we will state a few facts that people might not have known about a certain place called Kanju.

Calls and Mails Impromptu

Show Name: Football Faluda, Footify Description: English Football and American Soccer Frequency: 1 Premiere, 1 Rpt Promoted as "The Greatest Show On Earth", the Premier League is the world's most popular and most watched sporting league, followed worldwide by over half a billion people in 202 countries. In England, it is worshipped, in the US it has really come if age. The recent friendlies in the US drew crowds of upto 70,000 per game. Especially ever since Beckham went to LA, people are loving soccer. We could have a weekly football show. This is something that has been tapped by India but not Pakistan yet. I personally am a big follower of the English premiere league and we can get guests and giveaways. This is our chance to make a benchmark in football amongst all Asians living in the US and UK. Ideally we want something light hearted and fun. Have a look at this; it is one of the more popular shows about football in the UK and US. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLBEEDmzxt0

Segments

3 Mins - Top 5 Goals – Top 5 Goals from the weekend’s action 5 Mins - Football Forecast – Look ahead onto the coming weekend games 1 Min - Footy Boo Boo – Funny clips from games

Show Name: Aag on Tour, Aag on the Road Description: Travelling and Learning Frequency: 1 Premiere, 2 Rpts This is also a unique idea that will captivate youngsters and I am sure can bring about a psychological revolution in the youth. In all my travels, I have personally learnt so much and it is something that inspires people. IE, to meet with a different point of view, lifestyle, etc This is going to be an episode based show where we will be using different seasons to travel across Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, China, Iran, Thailand, etc. We talk to different people, musicians, youngsters, families, religious people, tourists, etc. We talk to people about music, religion, tradition, double standards, global warming, life, or anything at all. These conversations can be funny, serious or midway. We visit different holy sights, villages. We sit around campfires listening to someone playing the guitar and go to a rave in Goa or on a farmhouse in Islamabad. Every week, we air episode we recorded at a specific region in a country. Perhaps we can do 4 episodes around a country which is a month’s worth of programming. We uncover taboos and talk about the dilemmas that young people face. Somewhat in a Borat way but a little more serious. The programming possibilities are open ended. There is so much work that can be done on this and it can be a big success. I can use my personal contacts where applicable. For example, if we go Bombay, I can get big hook ups in the music and film industry. Something along the lines of Russell Brand: On The Road http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUy2ZdclOIA Segments

Competition to win trips and holidays. Emails on the road Impromptu

Show Name: Sardar Jee nu Pucho Description: Fun Psychic Sardarjee Frequency: 2 Premiere, 2 Rpt We need a character who is just called Sardar Jee. He will be a Sikh with a pugri and a long beard, but he will be in his 20s and cool. In a way, Sardar Jee is a Hakeem, a doctor, a psychologist and a philosopher . People will leave recorded messages about their problems. Sardar jee will be giving funny remedies to people’s problems in life and will talk about his unique life. We might need someone who puts on an alter ego for the character. Possibly, Sanjeev Bhaskar’s character of the Guru in Goodness Gracious Me is the kind of show we want and I would possibly know a great person to do this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqgYyZFrNgQ Segments

3 Mins - Sardar On Strike – One Reason why the Sardar is pissed off. A bit like ‘Do you know what really grinds my gears?’ on the animated show Family Guy.

1 Min - How can she slap!? – Segment name taken from the Indian reality show which has been a rave since it happened. People have even made remixes with the phrase

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndX2RFHmMNg We pick up footage of some celeb is slapping someone or is receiving one and Sardar Jee talks and makes fun about it. Also talk about if they deserved it.

Calls and Mails Impromptu

Show Name: Name of Drama Description: Old Pakistani funny Dramas Frequency: 1 Premiere, 1 Rpt Youth in UK and the US are obsessed with our old Pakistani comedy Dramas. This is not just limited to Pakistanis, but also Indians and Bengalis. This is possibly one of the only things that both first and second generation both love. If we can attain the broadcasting rights to dramas like Unkahi or Nadaan Nadia, it would get us a number of viewers. Also throw in the odd Pakistani stage drama such as Bakra Kiston Pay around Eid time. Segments

na Show Name: Oye Its Friday Description: Game Show with Celebs Frequency: 1 Premiere, 1 Rpt Asian youth abroad also love Bollywood. Perhaps we can acquire broadcast rights to this or any other celeb show on Indian TV. Segments

na

Show Name: Youth Debate Description: Serious Debate Frequency: 1 Premiere, 1 Rpt Loosely based on a programme currently on Aag TV. This will be a serious debate involving youth about current issues. This will be a parliamentary style debate with a proposition and an opposition and a crowd. Segments

Impromptu Show Name: Movie Madness Description: Movie Show, Red Carpet Frequency: 1 Premiere, 1 Rpt Based on Hollywood movies. The show is tactically placed right before Friday which a day before a new movie comes out. Segments

3 Mins - Top 5 Movies 2 Mins - Movies Releasing tomorrow 3 Mins - Rewind – Going back to yesteryears to relive the glory of a

classic such as Apocalypse Now or Ali G Inda House Show Name: Blog Buster Description: Interactive Frequency: 1 Premiere, 1 Rpt Based on a show currently on Aag TV but for UK and US audience. Segments

Impromptu Show Name: Aag Top 20 Description: Chart Music Frequency: 1 Premiere, 1 Rpt Loosely based on the Aag 10. This chart will be comprised of mainstream, bolly and bhangra. Segments

60 mins - Top 20 countdown New Entries 5 Mins - Underground track of the week 2 Mins - Up and coming artist of the week 3 Mins - Number 1 this time last year song

Show Name: Gal Power, Chalakos Description: Banter, Music Frequency: 1 Premiere, 1 Rpt Again loosely based on a show called Aurat Raaj. Here we can possibly get a British and an American girl. Pretty girls but are believable and you would come across every now and again Segments

5 Mins – Aukhi Recipie – Since the spoilt gals hardly ever do house work, they give their version of a recipie

What I dig – Each host talks about a song, book, painting, movie or article they are loving

Impromptu Show Name: Bhangra Basement Description: Bhangra Show Frequency: 1 Premiere, 2 Rpt Show based primarily on UK Bhangra with a lad from Birmingham to host. Segments

20 Mins – Top 5 Bhangra Songs 5 Mins – Bhangra basement Classic – Old school bhangra track by

Heera, Alaap, etc Show Name: Bolly Breakdown Description: Bollywood Show Frequency: 1 Premiere, 2 Rpt Dedicated Bollywood show with trailers, Bolly item songs, etc. Ideally presented by a glamour girl, someone who is totally unbelievable, perhaps a Pakistani Malaika. Segments

20 Mins – Top 5 Bolly songs 3 mins - Ms Cupid – The host does matchmaking of 2 Bollywood stars

and say why they would be ideal together by comparing habits and photos.

Show Name: Radioactive ! Description: Rock Show Frequency: 1 Premiere, 2 Rpt A Rock show incorporating everything that is led from the guitar! This will incorporate both Pakistani and mainstream rock. Perhaps even make a ‘Rocktionary’. Segments

15 Mins - Top 5 Rock Songs 10 mins – Jammin With – Do a studio jam with a band or musician 3 Mins – Top 5 Solos of the week – Compile footage of great guitar,

bass and drum solos

Show Name: Chillin With Description: Interview Show Frequency: 1 Premiere, 1 Rpt A show where we interview some big names from Pakistani repertoire origin. These interviews will be in English. A bit similar to a show on Dawn TV. Segments

Impromptu 3 people you would like to shake hands with

Show Name: Angrezi Dubbing Description: Floating Feature, Funny Frequency: On Rot Along the lines of Punjabi Totay but the opposite. On this show we translate Urdu to English! Nawaz Sharif saying to his brother Shahbaz ‘Oi Geezer, Wah go on’ would be hilarious. Or taking Indian Idol and translating it with an American Idol theme, where the 3 Indian judges are assigned characters of Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and that third guy. For this we can use Bolly movies, Lolly movies, news clips, Stage Shows, etc Segments

na Show Name: Glitz Bitz Description: Floating Feature, Celeb and Tabloid News Frequency: On Rot Recorded 40 second segment with the host giving 2 pieces of celeb news or gossip. Pictures and footage included. Segments

na Special Days such as Eid, 14th August or Christmas will require special programming.