Mumbai : Sony Pal will be launched with strategy to target women, mostly housewives, in the age group of 15-34 years, in SEC BCDE, The target audience was chosen after the result of the research which showed that 88 per cent of viewership for a GEC comes from housewives.
The idea behind Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) upcoming channel Sony Pal is that it will inspire and empower women of the country, that will help her embrace the positive aspects of modern India while preserving her traditional responsibilities and will showcase familial togetherness and bonding,
As reported earlier the channel will start airing from 1 September and will have Juhi Chawla as the face of the channel. When asked the reason for roping in Chawla, the channel sais “She is a person who is empowered, successful and yet approachable. She was the first name that came to us, and we stuck with her.”
The channel logo, which dons colours pink, purple and yellow and has diamonds, a woman’s best friend, has been designed by an Australian agency.
Sony Pal according to the Channel sources is mature and the shows will help connect the audience with a life that is beautiful and not a struggle. The channel will initially go on air with three hours of original content, which will be aired from Monday to Saturday between 7:30 pm-10:30 pm. Also, it will have two hours of original programming on Sunday evening. “After a month, they will launch the Balaji Telefilms’ show at the 7pm slot, thus taking original content to 3.5 hours,”. However, the slot for the Sunday programming has not yet been disclosed.
The channel launches with nine shows, these include: Simply Baatein which is produced by GR8 Entertainment and anchored by Raveena Tandon, Dil Hain Chotasa Choti Si Asha, produced by SOL Productions and hosted by Ragini Khanna and Jay Soni, Shashi Productions’ Ek Rishta Aisa Bhi, Miloni Films’ Khushiyon Ki Gullakh Aashi¸ Singhasan Battisi by Creative Eye, Pia Basanti Re by Rashmi Sharma and Pawan Kuma, Tum Sath Ho Jab Apne produced by Sphere Origins, Sister Didi by DJ’s Creative Unit and Yeh Dil Sun Raha Hain by Balaji Telefilms.
All the series are infinite and the channel is expected to take a call on the number of episodes based on its performance. While no advertisers have currently come onboard, the network is positive about its content. “We have showcased our product to them and they have responded positively. They first want to see the shows and the channel and then decide. And we are in no hurry too,” quoted a senior person in the channel.
The channel will look at afternoon slots later. The shows that will be launched in “SOny Pal” initially will be shot at outdoor locations of Patiala, Baroda, Lucknow and other HSM cities, will later move to sets in Mumbai City. The soon-to-go air channel is not free to air and will be available on all the major multi system operators and all the direct to home (DTH) operators.
On the marketing front, a 360 degree campaign has been designed, which will go live from 10th August and it will be a five week campaign with a lot of fresh initiative. One of this is forming women’s club, through which women can identify their talent and can celebrate life.
Manjit Sachdev will be the programming head for the new launch. According to an industry source, the investment in the channel could be anywhere close to Rs 90 crore- Rs 110 crore, including marketing spends with expected ad-rates to be in the range of 10,000 to 15,000 per 10 sec
