Big show on small screen

Once, a films TV premiere was meaningless to viewers. But now it has become huge. The marketing of these premieres has increased in the last two years, says Mohan Gopinath, business head, Zee Cinema. With hoardings and promos, we strive to create awareness. TV channels that have bought the satellite rights of movies, often at astronomical prices, put in huge efforts to recover the costs. This involves marketing the movie all over again. However, what helps is the fact that many big films are being aired on the tube within 45-60 days of their theatrical release. As a result, those who missed them on the big screen remain excited about watching them for free on TV.Channels also give viewers additional value in the form of behind-the-scenes interactions and interviews. Naturally, the size and scale of the movies that are premiering have a big role to play in how they are marketed, says Mohan Gopinath. Also, adds producer-distributor Jayantilal Gada, certain film stars come with an in-built brand value. For instance, any Salman Khan film gets decent ratings irrespective of the number of times it has aired on TV, he says. But marketing muscle tends to pay off. Movie premieres on TV are gathering TRP points like never before.Earlier, TV premieres would get a maximum of four TRPs if we got lucky, but our first record was Singham, which got 8.7, says Hemal Jhaveri, general manager, Star Gold. Bodyguard got 10 TRPs, which has been the highest to date. Of course, there are misses too: Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu only got 0.73 TRPs. Hindi film channels arent the only ones promoting TV premieres in a big way. English movie channels arent far behind, with Star Movies currently on a promotional spree for the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (POTC-OST) on June 24.Theres an increasing consumption of Hollywood movies here, says Saurabh Yagnik, GM and senior VP, English Channels, Star India. All previous POTC films have done well due to our marketing plan. Last year, we premiered Avatar and as it was an epic fight for freedom, we premiered it through the Independence Day weekend.Highest TRP grossers10: Bodyguard (2011) Star Gold 8.7: Singham (2011) Star Gold 6.7: RA.One (2012) Star Gold 4: Wanted (2010) Star Gold 1.8: Don 2 (2011) Zee Cinema 10.9: 3 Idiots (2009) Sony 1.2: Desi Boyz (2011) Zee Tv 1.0: Players (2012) Zee TvSatellite rights prices of latest filmsAgneepath- Rs. 41 cr Agent Vinod - Rs. 21 cr Ishaqzaade - Rs. 15 cr Housefull 2 - Rs. 27 cr The Dirty Picture - Rs. 10 cr Ferrari Ki Sawaari - Rs. 65 cr (combined deal with satellite, music and home video rights) Rowdy Rathore- Rs. 35 crore Kahaani - Rs. 8 crore