By Aditya Pisharody
Following the launch of 'Pitchers', TVF's latest hotly anticipated web series - we take a look at TVF's decision to launch the show via their new platform TVF Play - and what it means for the TV/Media industry as a whole.
Note: This is NOT a review of 'Pitchers', that will come later :)
There was a time when watching TV in India was a shared family activity: a time for everyone to relax and bond. This is undeniably not the case anymore. As part of the “digital age”, the way in which we consume and interact with TV has totally changed.
Part of it is based on accessibility and the evolution of devices. Earlier, there was typically just one TV set in the house so we had no choice but to find something to watch that everyone would enjoy. Now, every person has their own laptops, tablets, iPads etc. capable of playing hi-definition video and movies; so we can each choose to watch what we want – whenever and wherever we want.
This is a global phenomenon and is happening everywhere, but the way in which this trend is playing out in India is quite different from other markets. In the US for example, the key demographic of most TV shows remains the male 18-49 age group – even if the way they interact and consume the shows is across multiple devices and platforms.
In India, producers have shifted their programming towards who is still in front of the TV set. Whereas before we had family-oriented shows like Malgudi Days, Boogie Woogie and Yes Boss – today the target demographic is very much the older female demographic. TV shows in India are now just an amalgamation of melodramatic soap operas and melodramatic reality shows – with guest appearances from whichever actor’s movie is releasing that week.
As television programming becomes less and less appealing, the youth of India was naturally drawn towards content that they found more interesting and enjoyable. For most, this was American TV – be it sitcoms like Seinfeld and Friends or dramas like 24 and Game of Thrones. However there was still nothing out there that was truly relatable, truly Indian – that people could see themselves or their friends in.
The rise of web-series
This changed dramatically on October 29th 2014: when The Viral Fever (TVF) uploaded episode 1 of their web series ‘Permanent Roommates’. Without expanding on the merits of the show (it’s amazing, please go watch it as soon as you finish reading this) – here was something that finally the youth of India could relate to. A story of a young couple in a long distance relationship, and the struggles they face when they finally come back together after 5 years apart perfectly captures the thoughts, emotions, struggles and fears of youthful urban India.
And let us be honest, it is this new vibrant India that is the future. 65% of the population is under 35 years of age, and more young people are migrating to urban areas to seek education, job opportunities and broader exposure to the world. Note to TV producers: if you want to keep making money – this is your target audience. Young people are ambitious, they are aspirational, and they are impatient. If you don’t serve their needs, someone else (like TVF) will. Permanent Roommates was so successful (1.5 million views and a 9.1 rating on IMdB is no mean feat) that they decided to go ahead and make another one.
To be clear – having views and high ratings is great, but this stuff also makes money. While the ad revenue TVF makes from YouTube is likely small, a large part of Permanent Roommates’ production budget was funded through a sponsorship by Commonfloor.com. In return, the Common Floor app was strategically and seamlessly integrated into each episode without disrupting the flow. A pretty effective marketing strategy, which costs significantly less than a 30 second advertising slot on TV – and allows you to reach a very specific and sizeable target audience.
(On a similar note, ScoopWhoop recently raised Rs. 10Cr in funding from Bharti Softbank – of which 20% was earmarked solely to video ventures – they also jumped on the web series bandwagon by launching their own show called ‘Baked’)
Who are TVF?
For the uninitiated, TVF are known as one of the premier comedy troupes in India, with over 1 million subscribers on their YouTube channel. Limiting their description to just this does them a huge disservice. People often group All India Bakchod (AIB) and TVF together as they have each successfully captured the nation’s attention, tackled important social issues and done it with clever, cutting humor. While they are both equally talented (and culturally significant – more on that in a future blog!), they are fundamentally very different.
AIB is primarily a stand-up comedy group, who use their YouTube channels to supplement their live performances. Their main source of income and what they spend the most time on is their live shows. YouTube has of course been a huge part of their success and recognition, but their backbone and comfort zone is stand-up.
TVF is quite the opposite – a look at their website shows that they see themselves very much as a media company and content house. The idea to make web series has been on the agenda for a while. In fact, one can argue that their first web series was not in fact Permanent Roommates, but ‘Rowdies’ – a spoof of popular MTV show Roadies.
In fact, founder Arunabh Kumar decided to launch TVF after his initial proposals for TV show pilots were rejected by MTV amongst others. In the words of YourStory.in: “Whenever they went with a show concept to the decision makers, they used to say Indian audience is dumb, they won’t like it and they used to be really passionate in proving it and Arunabh was equally passionate in proving them wrong.”
The difference is subtle but significant. AIB’s goal is to make you laugh so hard that you will be convinced to spend Rs. 5000 on their next live show in your city. TVF’s goal is to engage so much that you come back to their YouTube channel and watch more stuff.
Or rather, bypass YouTube altogether and go to TVF Play.
When TVF released the full trailer of their new show ‘Pitchers’, it came with a 1 minute announcement at the end explaining the following:
a) ‘Pitchers’ would premier on June 3rd at TVFplay.com, and on YouTube only a week later (which of course means everyone will go to TVFplay as opposed to YouTube, as we said - we are impatient people)
b) TVFplay is a free website which hosts all of TVF’s content, as well as other popular classic Indian and overseas shows
c) Basically, everything TVF does from now onwards will be on TVFplay so go there instead of YouTube.
And this is where it becomes interesting. There is enough coverage around the internet showing how the number of Netflix, Hulu and HBO subscribers in the US is rising exponentially so I won’t bore you with more stats. It has been clear for some time that the internet will give rise to new platforms that will replace cable.
In India however; internet penetration is still low (~20%), internet speed is still terribly slow (we still don’t have 4G) and cable remains easily and cheaply available. As such, these ‘Over-the-top’ (OTT) services have not really caught on. Reliance tried to start a similar service a few years ago which never gained traction, and both Star TV (with Hotstar.com) and Eros Now have entered this space with their own content with limited success. New entrants such as Spuul (targeted more at the expat audience but offering compelling selection of free movies, with both rental and premium options) and Hooq (still in pilot phase) also have high hopes, but it is early days yet.
Therefore, TVF’s decision to launch TVFplay.com is a bold but possibly inspired move. It is one thing to recognize that the internet is the future, which is what Star and Eros have done by investing in online platforms. At the end of the day though, content is king. As discussed earlier, Star TV’s content is not necessarily targeted at the demographic that typically uses the internet. Eros’ movie selection is quite compelling, but a) still feels expensive given that one can record these movies on Tata Sky nearly every week and b) doesn’t have the TV show component.
TVF has the potential to combine both. If there is one thing TVF does well, it is knowing exactly who their audience is, what they want and how they think. The goal is to create and build a library of content a la Netflix, but targeted at the youth. TVF shows may not have the clout and appeal of the glamorous Bollywood films with A-list stars, but let us not underestimate TVF’s own fan base and following.
A carefully curated selection of content, including all of TVF’s previous work but also classic Indian and foreign shows such as Malgudi Days, Byomkesh Bakshi and Monty Python – that too all for free (at least for now), is pretty convincing. While majority of the old content is still embedded from YouTube (just easier that way) – the new stuff will be entirely on TVF’s video player and platform (as Pitchers indeed is). This enables them to actually keep their digital ad revenues, as opposed to giving up majority of their share on YouTube.
The key risk here is whether they alienate part of their fan base – and this is entirely dependent on whether they will keep it free or charge. My view is the following:
· TVF Play will remain free for the foreseeable future. I think they are big enough to be able secure sponsors fairly easily, plus the bump up in digital ad revenue from clicks directly to TVF play instead of Youtube means that adding a subscription revenue stream is not critical.
· They will potentially start charging for certain premium content, which is either super ambitious or expensive to make – for example, a full-length move. This is in fact already happening: TVF were associated with the making of indie film Sulemaani Keeda and launched the online movie rental service called TVF InBox Office, which lets you rent the movie for 72 hours at the modest cost of Rs 100. Unfortunately, this was half a year ago and the promise to add more movies to this platform hasn’t materialized. I assume that they will at some stage merge this site with TVF Play so you have a ‘basic’ and ‘premium’ version.
Either way, I am convinced that this is eventually going to be the future of how people watch TV– on demand, when they want, on whichever device they want. TVF’s decision to move early into this space is truly a game changer, and could signal a seismic shift in how both producers and consumers think about TV as a concept.