Discovery Channel_discovering India

7/27/2019 Discovery Channel_discovering India

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DISCOVERY CHANNEL

Presented by

Amit Joshi

Discovering India


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Background

1985:

- Original name was Cable Education Network Inc & John Hendricks was itsfounder.

- Launched in USA & in its first year channel's subscription reached to 7 million(by 1986). Offered non-fiction programs related to history, science, adventure,

nature, civilization, etc.

1987:

- The Discovery Interactive Library, television's first interactive video was launchedin Japan through an agreement with Mitsubishi Corporation.

- Change of name: from "Cable Education Network Inc" to "DiscoveryCommunications, Inc" i.e. DCI.

1994:

- Launched in few Asian Countries.


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1995:

- Expanded to Canada & India.

- Launch of online service, named "Discovery Channel Online".

- Acquired "Dallas-base Discovery Store Inc", & renamed as "DiscoveryChannel Store.

- Launched first ever consumer catalogue, named "Discovery ChannelCatalogue". provided information about the merchandise offering.

1996:- Launched in Brazil with Portuguese language.

- Launched in Europe with German language.

- Launched in Austria & Switzerland with regional languages.

- Subscription reached to 101.4 million around the globe.

1997:

- No.1. media brand, according to "Total Research Corporation" as per theirEquiTrend Study.

- Launched in Turkey, through an agreement with The Media Group.

- Launched "BBC America" by entering a joint venture with "BritishBroadcasting Corporation" BBC.


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Discovery Communications in Asian countries,

named as "Discovery Channel (Asia)

Operated by "Discovery Network Asia

& has 5 channels.

Phase 1 : Entry Stage

DiscoveryChannel

SoutheastAsia

DiscoveryChannel

Philippines

DiscoveryChannel

Malaysia

DiscoveryChannel

Taiwan

DiscoveryChannel

India


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Major Competitors


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Journey

Discovery started focusing from niche channel to mainstream channelcompetitor.

They aired their programs related to science & technology, nature & wildlifein ENGLISH Language.

This attracted 3 million homes and major reasons behind this achievementwas:

- Viewers got a break to watch a different tangent of shows as compared to

hindi family shows such as Kyuki Saas Bhi Kabhi Thi, Hum Paach,Kusum, etc.

- Parents concern towards their children had a positive influence.


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Lesson to Learn

In 1999 Discovery introduced a pay channel policy. Rs.5/- per house.

This backfired them & no of discovery viewers went down from 13 million to8 million.

They learn that Indians are extremely price sensitive.

But the loyalty of their viewers gave discovery a competitive advantage. Dueto the consumers high demand of the channel, cable operators were forcedto resume the channel & no of discovery viewers again increased to 12

million.


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Phase 2 : Growth Stage

As an new business player to expand the business in the year 2000,Discovery made a joint venture with two tv channels.

DD Channel & Vijay TV.

They broadcast their shows in Hindi and Tamil languages for 2 hours.

People who did not understand English, now also were aware about varioustopics.

They noticed that the Indian viewers still had a perception of discovery as achannel which broadcasts programs on wildlife & nature.


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In December 2000, when Mr. Deepak Shourie was appointed as the new MDof Discovery India a huge investment was made on R&D to conduct a surveyon the perception of Indian viewers on Discovery Channel.

Findings of the survey:

- Most viewers are urban males, age 25-54 yrs.

- Discovery is very popular with kids & their parents.

- Viewers are not aware about the show timings.

- Serious channel with infotainment programs.


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Mass marketing to build brand image & reworking on brand positioning wasinitiated.

2001:

- In August announced new programming strategy named, "My Time onDiscovery". 118 hrs/week. The main intension of this strategy was tocommunicate their viewers that they can watch the show as per theirconvenience individually. This helped Discovery to focus on their key targetgroups.

- In October launched time bands to mainstream their market.

2002:

- In October a programme guide of "discovery channel" circulated to readerswhich was attached inside the magazine "India Today.

Changing thePerception

Documents

Discovery Channel_discovering India