There was a time when TV time meant only the couple of hours around the TV wherein the whole family and often neighbours would join in for their daily dose of entertainment. This was the time of Doordarshan when TV viewing was limited to a few hours and the sole TV service provider ensured to provide something for everyone. This was also the time for a cancellation of show scheduled programs to accommodate special events like sports, state mourning, etc.
But private television channels like Zee, Star, Sun, ETV and CNN changed the rules of the game. These channels entered a sterile market and filled it with their 24-hour programming. The channels didn’t always telecast original programming throughout the day. Often repeat telecast of prime time shows filled the time slots. This was an added advantage for the channels as well as the viewers. “If you missed the show, you could catch up later” formula worked for these channels pretty well. But these channels lacked the goal of the government run establishment and had very few programs which would appeal to the teeming masses.
Where Doordarshan ensured entertainment for kids in the form of Disney Hour and Shaktimaan on weekends, the private players offered no such options. Slowly, Kids Entertainment channels crept up in the form of Cartoon Network, POGO etc. The same thing happened for sports lovers. Earlier Doordarshan brought sports events like the World Cup and Olympics alienating the soap opera lovers, biting into their slot times. With the advent of specific TV channels, this problem was sorted as the GECs would continue to showcase the latest plans and plots brewing in their kitchens while sports channels made sure to get every minute of your favourite game for you.
This has set up an interesting trend of finding niche audiences for niche entertainment. The proof of this growing trend lies with STAR, providing STAR Cricket solely for the cricket lovers. This trend has touched the Indian economy and affected the society. Earlier one television set entertained a whole lot of people while now in affluent homes there are TV sets for every individual. According to the latest Survey in 2014, 277 million individuals have a TV Set exclusively for themselves. Today satellite TV in the form of DTH has reached more than 78 million households in India.
This has also posed a problem for advertisers. Before the advent of 24 Hours TV, advertisers had only to book ads with one station to grasp all their target audiences. But with more than 1400 TV channels – both national and regional, this task has reached mammoth proportions. Here, is a list of TV channel genres to help you as an advertiser to reach out to your target audiences.
- GECs: GECs are better known as General Entertainment Channels. These TV channels play soap operas, reality shows, and movies on weekends or special programs like award functions or special shows for special events like Diwali, Holi, Eid etc. Several national and regional channels come under this category.
- Sports: The sports channels try to broadcast the on-going tournaments LIVE. Often studio-based programs complement the matches acting as fillers. These channels also resort to the re-run of matches itself for lack of new tournaments.
- Kids: This segment is dedicated to kids. From toddlers to teenagers, the kids segment caters to all children’s need for entertainment. International superheroes like the Justice League are at par with our ‘desi’ variety of Chhota Bheem and Motu-Patlu.
- Movies: The movie channels in India play cinema throughout the day. There are Hindi movie channels along with English and regional movie channels for the specific viewer. TV channels again are segregated as Romance, Comedy, Action etc.
- Music: Music channels again, have content for a number of age groups. From old melodies to latest numbers, the music channels remain the sole destination for music lovers.
- Lifestyle: Lifestyle channels are those which affect the way we live our lives. For fitness freaks, these channels show various fitness regimes and healthy diet plans. For the food lovers, it has exotic dishes from around the nation and the globe. Lifestyle channels also follow celebrity lifestyles and aims to give its audience a glimpse of the celebrity life.
- Infotainment: These channels entertain audiences with information. Physical, Natural and Social Sciences are the base of these programs. People with niche interests enjoy this “hatke” genre the most.
- News: The fourth pillar of democracy is the news media and the Indian news channels are doing a commendable job of being the fourth pillar. The news channels run 24×7 and get you the latest news from across the world. Several local TV news channels also have picked up this mantle of providing the latest news in your mother tongue. Like sports channels News channel also have bifurcated into general news channels and business news channels.
- Spiritual: This again gratifies a specific audience more religiously inclined. Religious Sermons, Bhajans and Kirtans and other programs depicting the nearness of man to his God adorn these channels.
TV advertising is all about audio-visual impact. Anyone opting for TV ads must make sure to get an exciting video and an, even more, exciting soundtrack. Once the creative part is ready, you must know where to find your target audience. If you are targeting the youth, music channels and GECs especially for them will take your ads to the right places. Likewise to target men, news and sports channels will be the best option. But with more than a hundred channels in each category, this choice is becoming difficult by the hour. Demographic, socio-economic backgrounds and personal choices again affect TV viewing.
For an advertiser making this choice of the perfect media vehicle (in this case, TV channels) is quite difficult. TV channels have their own brand and any association with the Brand affects the advertising scenario. Any product specifically directed towards the youth will appear better on a channel for the youth, be it music or GEC. releaseMyAd is one of the top online ad agencies of India. Our experts guide you perfectly for advertisements in each of these genres ensuring your ad message reaches your targets easily.
Get advertising details on any of the TV channels at 09830688443 or send us your queries via email to enquiry@releasemyad.com. You could also visit our website releasemyad.com for further details.
