Count Your Blessings

Taking a leaf or two from entertainment and news channels, with advertisements for products ranging from the profound agarbattis to the more earthly banks and financial institutions, the spiritual channels are finally enjoying trps that were once the preserve of music channels like MTV and Channel V. Breaking away from the monotony of airing pravachans and other genres of spiritual discourses 24/7, these channels are into breaking news, helping the faithful keep in touch with religious congregations in their holy places. Spending between Rs 40-50 lakh per month on sourcing programmes, the channel organisers say the viewership should only increase with time.

Watched by the very young and old alike, it is not surprising to see the channels devote the morning hours to yoga. So if you aspire for some 'gyan' from television guru Ramdev, prepare to stretch your muscles. Aastha, the channel which snapped up the guru a year ago, has booked a three-hour daily slot for him. "Ramdev is to Aastha what Amitabh Bachchan is to Star Plus," says Arvind Joshi, distribution head of the channel.

The channel hit the top position with 32 per cent viewership when it tied up with Baba Ramdev. "He was already popular before we got him as our mascot," says Joshi. The first of the spiritual channels to start beaming five years ago, Astha says it understands what its viewers really want from them. "If you watch MTV, you expect vibrancy from it. When you watch our channel, you expect peace and tranquility and that's what we intend to show," says Joshi.

To help the body reach where the mind goes, the channel also has a travel show—Ganga Sagar Se Gangotri Tak—which offers tips to viewers on holy places and how to reach there on shoestring budgets. The channel also gives tips to the devout on the best seasons to get the best darshans at all the holy places in the country.

Another instance of a good branding strategy, points out Joshi, was when the channel asked its viewers to send in grains for Diwali if they wished to perform puja along with the channel. "We were flooded with vermilion and rice which came by the sackfuls," he says. According to him, his channel will revolve around only the factual things of life. "I am not going to air movies and resort to gimmicks to market my channel which was the first to hit the airwaves in the spiritual genre."

Amidst increased fragmentation in the spiritual category, it is not surprising to see QTV in the second slot. Beaming from Dubai, the channel became visible only in the last one year. In the viewership numbers game, while Aastha rules at dawn, it is QTV which gets its viewership of 24 per cent during the day. According to Nasira Khan, programme manager, the channel is popular as it is based on issues that concern the Muslim community. "It is providing answers on a wide range of day-to-day issues that concern the community. The channel, for instance, has programmes where fatwas and human rights are discussed and debated at length which has elicited a good response from its viewers. As far as accepting advertisements is concerned, the channel expects advertisers to comply with Islamic values," says Nasira.

Moving with the aim of cashing in on the youth and giving a spin to spiritual channels is Zee Jagran. Says its head Anil Anand, "The channel is India's first social-spiritual channel and it is with this positioning in mind that the channel has decided to woo its audiences with a mixed bag that is not strictly spiritual. We have movies, astro-shows, cookery shows (only vegetarian food) and travel shows." The channel even has a mission statement: a communications offering that's Holistic, Secular and above all Humanitarian. It has slots like 'Mystic Mornings', 'Awakened Afternoons', and 'Nirvana at Nine'.

For TAM, the outcome of the results are not surprising. Says CEO L.V. Krishnan, "We were expecting the channels to make their mark. These channels, like the entertainment or news channels, are personality-driven and the gurus have their own following. I would call this a savvy marketing of spiritual leaders in today's life making use of the best technology available which, in this case, happens to be television." Krishnan also points out that viewership is linked to the sale of television sets that has increased in the country. "For instance, in class I towns with a population of more than a lakh, 60 per cent of the people have television sets and nearly 30 per cent have two television sets. This fuels the demand for choice as mass general entertainment channels see their viewership getting increasingly fragmented," says Krishnan. He does not discount the possibility of people watching spiritual channels as a way out from stress, not necessarily because they are believers. As he puts it: "We do need to probe this further. TV is escapism."

Anand agrees that spiritual channels are largely personality-driven. His Zee Jagran has an exclusive tie-up with Osho World which has proved to be extremely popular with the younger audience. "The channel has tied up, and in some instances got into exclusive arrangements, with Sri Sri Ravishankar, Osho, Satya Sai Baba, Brahmakumaris, Guru Maa Mridul Krishnaji, Morari Bapu and Vikas Malkani. We are striving to get the eyeballs of the 25-plus audience to widen our advertisement opportunities," he says.

The channel has no qualms about airing movies but exercises quality control. Only patriotic/mythological movies and those with a strong moral message are beamed. "Zee Jagran is the only channel in the genre that provides to its viewers a taste of mythological movies. We're moving further to broaden the base of our content library. We will be acquiring more such titles that offer movie content on social awareness, patriotism, comedy and titles on reincarnation etc. Movies like Upkar, Shahid Bhagat Singh, Purab Aur Paschim, Saransh, Dosti, Ishwar, Roti Kapda aur Makan are a few examples," says Anand.

And it is not just bored music directors who are in the remix business, Zee Jagran has its own remix mantra where popular chants have been redone to suit contemporary trends. Then there is Satvik Rasoi, where onion and garlic-free recipes are made, which happens to be the first sponsored cookery show on a spiritual channel.

But clearly, too much of the contemporary is not palatable to some channels like Aastha. They want to stick to the spiritual route and meddle little with the material world. The recently launched Kitab TV, for instance, wants to remain a serious channel, striking a frothy note only when it comes to accepting advertisements of Mecca Cola. According to managing director Zahir Syed, the channel would like to keep up its sober image. "We do encourage talk shows on contemporary issues such as women's rights and education," he says. Beginning with a discussion on the Quran, the channel moves on to programmes on women, children and education. "Indian Muslims are some of the most backward people in India and education is a top priority for the channel," says Syed. The channel has just entered the market and is hoping to make its presence felt this year.

Along with the big players are channels like God TV who have their exclusive viewership base that ranges between 1 and 2 per cent. With an office in Chennai, God TV, which beams from Israel, has been around for the last three years and is happy with the response it has received. Thomas Robinson, regional director for Asia and the Middle East, says the channel fills a void in the lives of people. It is evident from the emails and people calling in for a prayer and saying how they have been blessed. "We are a charity organisation and do not accept ads on the channel," says Robinson.

The spiritual quest has just begun and this year, media-watchers say, belongs to the gods and the faithful. Already, news channels like Aaj Tak have a morning spiritual slot called Dharm Aaj Tak. Sahara News has Ramdev. So has India TV. With competition hotting up, the spiritual channels will need all the blessings they can get.