 and welcome to exchange for media. Wish you all a very, very happy new year. Today I have a very, very special guest with me. Nina is very special to us, not just because she heads Hindi mass entertainment and kids TV network and the kind of shows she has launched and the work she does. She's also special because she is very difficult to catch hold of. And finally, in 2021, I am starting on a very good note that I have Nina with me today. Welcome to the show, Nina. Thank you so much, Nazia. Thank you for your kind words and wish you and everybody out there a very safe and a very fulfilling 2021. So, Nina, before we start with the formal interview and I ask you questions, I just, you know, 2020 was a very unpredictable year for all of us. There was so much uncertainty around. But you know, if I talk of YCOM 18, this uncertainty started almost in 2019 when there were so many talks of, you know, the deal happening and not happening and many of your senior kaneeks moved out, Raj moved out, then later Sudhanshu left, you had a new boss to work with. How has it been for you in the last two years? You know, so I think that having been in the industry and in my career, which is now spanning over 25 years, there is nothing that, you know, is not expected. And therefore, as a professional, I believe that it is about embracing that what comes your way. And it is about overcoming challenges and difficulties, learning from the mistakes you make and moving on. So to me, and I've been at Viacom 18 now for 14 years, and I have seen and worked with four bosses. Having said that, it's been a fantastic right for me personally and professionally, and has been very, very fulfilling, enriching, and, you know, very, very satisfying. So I would, you know, give a lot of gratitude to Viacom 18 for that. But for the last two years, I think when everything changes around you, the one thing that has remained constant with me, and I think with our organization, is our promise to our viewers for non-stop world-class entertainment. And I think that's been our DNA ever since I remember. And we've stayed true to that promise ever since across all the Viacom 18 brands. And I think over the last two years, our focus continues to be that our brands continue to cater to the audiences, to engage with them, to connect with them, and to keep our promise of keeping them entertained at all times. And this could not have been more true in 2020, where we really needed to be, you know, so true to our promise, even more so because we were all deprived of our, you know, basic rights of, and, you know, we're really in a emotional upheaval if I were to talk so. And we were really very happy to say that all the Viacom 18 brands and whether that was Colors, or Cineplex, or Nickelodeon, or any of our brands were out there entertaining and ensuring that we were there for our audiences and viewers when they needed us. So yes, a lot has changed in the last two years. You do see a lot of people who go and come in, but organizations continue, brands are ever green. And our promise to our viewers is always true to what we stand for. So not talking solely of pandemic, you know, how did Viacom 18 Hindi and Kids Cluster under you cope with the pandemic and its after effects on the business? Well, so, you know, when we started in March, and I'll take every genre differently because each genre behaves differently. When we started off and realized that there was a lockdown in March, we didn't realize that it was going to be so long term. But from a kids genre perspective, I can tell you that by the time March came, we were already preparing for a big summer from a kids perspective. And so when the lockdown happened, the least affected genre to my mind was the kids genre. And we were out there ready to entertain our little kids who and families, of course, who were with new stories, new characters, new episodes, new movies, new contests. So Nickelodeon and Sonic and Nick Jr. and all our brands were ready with all the new content out there to engage with kids. And I'm truly happy for that, because what happened was that when it comes to kids, I think they were really deprived of two very big things in their lives, which is school and friends. And I think, you know, they're being in a vacation time where they couldn't step out of homes was very critical for us to be there for them. So as a responsible broadcaster, we were there with all the new content. And I'll just continue as the lockdown continued, we continue to churn and provide new content and new fresh episodes to kids, because we were, as an animation industry, and all of us have animated content, it's a pipeline that has been running over a very long period, right? So it's not something we do overnight. And therefore, we were ready with a pipeline that we have invested in in the previous years. And we were, we make almost 100 to 150 hours of content, fresh content every year. We really had a fantastic 2020 because we actually launched our ninth and 10th local IP, 10th IP in 10 years, with Ting Tong and Pinaki and Happy the Booth Bandos, which happened very recently in the Diwali quarter. So we really, we were out there with the kids, entertaining them with our, of course, evergreen properties of Rudra, Shiva, Motu Patlu, Golma, and then we launched two new properties. So we were out there entertaining kids. And what we really realized in the kids category also was that we had a whole lot of enhanced co-viewing and family viewing. And, you know, we had people and families watching all our brands and all our new shows. So I think the kids brand and the kids genre and franchise continued to gallop. And very happy to say that Nickelodeon continued to be the number one channel, seventh year, consecutively. So, and as a franchise as well, we lead the genre with a 32% market share with Disney and Turner following us. So very happy that we were in a good space with original content. The story of yeah. So the story wasn't of course the same at GEC, which is the, which colors where we of course, all of us ran out of original content and shoots were suspended for a while. But staying true to our promise of wanting to connect and engage and entertain our audiences, we looked into our libraries, we looked into external libraries to ensure that we continue to entertain. And we really put out there, Mahabharat, we had Om Namah Shivai. We also looked into our own libraries and brought back this whole nostalgic feeling of, you know, with shows like Balika Vadoo, with shows like Naana is Deslado, Sasural Simarka. And audiences seem to take you know, a trip back into nostalgia and started enjoying content. We also actually, you know, tried some innovative stuff with our characters and artists at home. And we put out a show called Hamthu Man Quarantine, which was really done from the home to ensure that we have some newness on the channel as well. As soon as, you know, opened up, Colors was the first to go out, out there with original content. And we had a fabulous prime time lineup with all our blockbusters from Choti Sardani to Barista Babu and Shakti coming back to the prime time. And of course, we also had for the first time, Katroke Khiladi, the Desi version made in India, which we shot in India as soon as the lockdown opened. And through all of that, the pandemic with all the challenges, we still managed to put out a fabulous show with Rohit Chetty. What we also did in the lockdown, you know, was realizing and trying to measure the pulse of the audiences. And we realized that content that was, you know, going to going to roll out from there on was was very far more inclusive than it has been. I think it was stories and content that Nina, I'll come to that question. I think that's an entire separate question I want to ask you. But, you know, when we were talking about shoots, I want to understand how normalcy return to the production of shows completely. Are you running on your schedules on schedule now, like we'll have the fresh content going on throughout? Yeah, so the challenges continue on ground. Of course, we do have schedule shoots going on and we are entertaining our audiences with all our differentiated content, which is fiction on the on the weekdays and the impact properties with big boss and Salman on the weekend. So shoots continue, but with great care and great safety for the crew and the cast. And there is very strict SOPs being followed across all shoots to ensure the safety of all our talent cast and crew. So yes, shoots on schedule now. On schedule, absolutely. Of course, I can't. I have to say that it is challenging. It's not been easy. But we are following strict protocols, strict SOPs have been put into place. We are working in bubbles where, you know, we ensure that the two bubbles don't interact. And therefore, if one is, you know, out of action, the other one takes over. So yes, a lot of all of that has happened as an SOP. But yes, shoots have have happened and we are happy to see that big boss continues as a live show every single day 24 by seven. That was the biggest, I think the most challenging of them all was big boss. Is it? I thought it would be easier because you anyway, just put them in a bubble. Yeah, but you know, there is a there's a very large cast and, you know, and a crew that is working outside the house, which we have handled. And that has to be taken care of because you don't want to, of course, those guys are in the house. But the crew outside which is working day and night has to be managed with, you know, with really very big good care. So you know, both the clusters that you handle are very critical for Vaikom 18 stop line as well as the bottom line. So to what extent were the revenues of these two clusters impacted? Well, so I have to say that the quarter one and quarter two were subdued for obvious reasons. There was advertisers who are also managing their own manufacturing retail, you know, shelves were empty. So we did see a very subdued quarter one and quarter two. But what I'm very happy to say is that we came back with a revenge in quarter three. And we had a fabulous quarter three, a very great festive October, November and December. This was the spite idea you had your years. Oh, yes, we had our we had our viewers and we had our advertisers. And we're happy to say that we had actually managed 17 sponsors on Big Boss alone. So very happy to know that we had full inventory consumption. We had great sponsorships, we had great partnerships. And we've seen a fabulous quarter three, which is also leading into a very robust and positive quarter four as well. So on the whole, I think across all our genres, we are going to see a very healthy age to the second half of the year is going to be actually perhaps even slightly more than 2019. So yeah, I see an H2 which is really going to be a very good comeback for all our genres. And a couple of categories that stood out for us in that quarter three, from, you know, from advertiser genre perspective, and I could call out some of them being, you know, gaming, edu tech, for example, e-commerce, e-wallets, like phone pay and Amazon pay, Vedantu, Baiju's, Dream 11. So a lot of these journals actually stood out for us. Of course, there was the usual suspects of FMCG there as well. But some of these advertisers also stood out for us and partnered with us and supported us and believed us because I think that is that is this whole thing about trusting, you know, the part and both partners need to trust each other. And I think we've really had a good quarter three and fingers crossed for a fabulous quarter four as well. So, you know, now coming back to what you were telling me then, you know, I just want to want you to elaborate on this. What have been the content trends in Hindi GEC and kids cluster? So this is a cross-broadcaster, you know, not just y-com 18, but what have been the current trends? So one is of course the trend that emerged was that of nostalgia and that continues to be very honest and it actually fueled our non-primetime growth and we continue to have a very good non-primetime with all our library shows ticking in and, you know, getting audiences in. So we do continue to have, you know, like I said, Balika, Vadoo, Kasam, Sasural, Simar, a lot of those shows and I think primetime and non-primetime both have become a trend that that has kept pace. However, of course, non-primetime has gone back to its pre-COVID levels, but for colors particularly our non-primetime has been very, very good and continues to show us very robust growth. So one of course trend was nostalgia, but I think going forward, the trend was about creating content and telling stories that were very, very inclusive, stories that capture, you know, the simplicity of human emotions, stories in family bonding, stories that could bring families together and I think we paid special attention in, you know, creating characters that were very, very relevant and relatable. So I think these were the couple of trends on which all of the content is being created and stories are being told. Of course the, some of these things don't change and at the GEC front and particularly from a color's perspective, you know, we stand differentiated as a brand for our very strong fiction stories, which are across genres and very strong, you know, properties which are impact properties, which include action and adventure from Khatron ke Khiladi, voyeurism with Big Boss and of course we'll soon see quarter four coming up with a new show with Dance Diwani. So a very good mix of fiction and non-fiction. We also saw as the lockdown opened a couple of new show launches, which worked very well for us and that was Ishm-e-Marjawa, a romantic thriller at seven o'clock. It's a slot leader there followed by 730, Choti Sardarni, Shakti, Barista Babu, all great slot leaders and primetime viewership there. We also saw a lot of shows coming in with a social commentary, you know, where colors has been known for tackling social issues that exist in our society today. So we had Molki, which was about bride buying with Balaji. We had Namak Iska as another show that we launched which talked about a profession that was really not looked, you know, which is looked down upon. So a lot of new content that we actually launched has also picked up very well for us and the weekends continue with Nagin, our fantasy show that continues to draw audiences and of course Salman is doing his magic. So we're really back with a bank with differentiated content on the weekday and the weekend. So that was a trend that continued from our perspective. The other big trend that I see that will continue is that of the FDA space where we, as an organization, went back with, you know, Colors Rishite in the GEC space and Rishite Cineplex in the movie space. And we're really very delighted to be, you know, entertaining newer audiences on a platform that we had exited a couple of years ago. And we've seen huge growth there, very fantastic growth with both the channels actually being at 15 percent, 14 percent market share. So that's given us tremendous growth in terms of viewership as well as in terms of ad sales as well, in terms of revenue. So this was again a separate question, which is from a very larger, sorry, from a very larger perspective. The other trend has been that there was, you know, an impetus of, of OTT and we're not, we're not trying away from that fact at all. In fact, we believe that we are in a, in a, in a country unlike the West where linear television and digital are going to coexist. You know, we are, we are in an end market and both are going to grow. And that's a trend that will only take shape further in 2021. But what this really did for us was, and we are very happy that it did that, was it created a huge demand for content. And as content creators, we are very happy that we could, you know, satiate and help, you know, satiate this increased demand of content. But we can also experiment with content because, you know, there was all kind of content today, which is long form, short form, episodic. And as content creators, we're really happy that we are in a space where today we are able to make, yeah, and we're able to make content which is agnostic of pipe or screen. Because today you look at it from a Viacom 18 perspective, then all the new IPs and the, you know, evergreen IPs of Nickelodeon are actually entertaining kids on WootKids. You know, seven of the top 10 titles on WootKids belong to the Nickelodeon IPs. So we are very happy that if kids choose to see us on, on another screen, then we are, we are available there. Can we think of this kind of shift back also like, you know, there are some very popular shows on Woot. For instance, you're assorted very well. So can we have that running on colors or, you know, on any of your TV channels? Are you also looking at that kind of a plan? So that is, that is a possibility. But I would imagine that the content that is typically viewed on some of the OTT platforms is not necessarily very inclusive and meant for families. And therefore, you would be careful as to what you want to put on your linear television because you know that it's family viewing versus OTT, where, you know, you can restrict the screen either to personal viewing or to viewers who want to just watch. So you have to be a little careful on that front, not, not saying it's not possible to do, but the reverse is very, very true. So for example, Big Boss on Woot Select is doing very, very well for us. And in fact, you know, the Woot Select viewers actually get to see Big Boss, a lot more of Big Boss content around content and Big Boss even before television. So that strategy is working beautifully well for us. Even Nagin continues to do very well for us, Ishme Marjava, a lot of shows that are on colors are doing fantastically well on Woot Select and Woot for that matter. So like I said, as content creators, you know, as a trend going forward, we are very happy to therefore create content that is agnostic of the screen and or the pipe for that matter. And I truly believe that we are going to coexist going forward. So Nina, you also said that there was this shift from prime time. There was no prime time during COVID, you know, because people were consuming TV, even in the afternoon, you know, there was complete change in this timeline. So similarly, there was a lot of shift in ad monies into other genres like movies, for instance. So a lot of data that came out at that point of time showed that movies gained. So do you feel that, you know, there was this shift of revenue and viewership, everything moving from GEC to movies? So a couple of genres grew, you know, outside of what you call normal growth. And those genres where you were very right are movies, news and kids to my mind saw phenomenal growth in the in the lockdown. As I said, you know, movies is a genre, which is all about the titles that you play. And it was about putting out our best foot out there and ensuring that color synaplex. So yes, we did see very good growth on the Nickelodeon franchise and the synaplex franchise. And we've in the, you know, under two years, we've actually managed a seven percent market share on color synaplex. So yes, the movie genres did benefit. And the kids journal for Wacom also benefited. In fact, we were the least discounted genre and franchise in the lockdown, because like I said, we were dishing out original content, new IPs, and we had a full house from an audience perspective. So these two genres did kick in. I have to say, however, that now as the unlock is unraveling, it has gone back to the pre COVID levels. However, it continues to be on on a high because while the total TV, you know, grew to at nine percent for kids that it's come back to seven percent, but since total TV is still is still growing, the number of people on the genre are actually higher than pre COVID. And kids are still at home and still online. So the kids categories actually is still growing over the pre COVID areas. But I think otherwise, normalcy has returned, returned across genres. Coming back to kids, you know, the category saw some new in entrance, you know, we had in media launching a kids channel. So can I rubies 500 color at market support so many channels? You know, I've always believed that the kids genre is here to stay because it kind of offers custom made tailor made content for kids. And it continues to enjoy, you know, after general entertainment and movies, kids is one of the biggest genres at seven percent at two plus. So I think it's a genre that is here to stay for sure. And looking at the opportunity we at Nickelodeon ourselves actually just before the lockdown made ourselves available in eight languages. So we really have all the four south languages. And then we have Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, and Hindi. So as a franchise, there is huge opportunity across and because we straddle all India to plus audiences, the opportunity is huge to my mind. And I also think that advertisers have come to realize that this is a great opportunity and a platform where they can reach out to their audiences from a family perspective. So I think yes, there is there is more than enough room. And as you can see, we're all launching local IPs. We already have three new local IPs in progress. This was my last question. This was my second last question. In fact, I wanted to come to it because we are almost running out of time. What are the new IPs for Hindi and kids cluster that we're going to see? So kids cluster, of course, will continue to to look at local content. Sorry, this is saying I've removed it. Okay. So the kids content continues and we are very happy to say that we are first time in collaboration with Viacom International and Nick India and Nickelodeon International are, you know, co-producing a show called The Twisted Timelines and with Sammy and Raj. And that we're going to launch in 2021 over and above another two local IPs. And we look for white spaces and look at gaps which are there in the market to ensure that we will cover those white spaces. So yes, we're looking forward to a couple of local IPs in 2021 and make sure that our width and depth of local content continues to grow year after year and look at over 100, over 100 hours of new content. From a GC perspective, I can promise you that we will continue to create characters and stories that are relatable, relevant. But I think we're also going to look at slightly more disruptive content coming in as well. We are considering new IPs that will look at different story lines, different genres. We've been known to do, you know, romance. Is this also to compete with OTT? No, I think it is to ensure that we stay true to the color stands for, which is to give differentiated content and a fabulous mix of fiction and non-fiction. I think it comes from that perspective. I think OTT will only supplement what we do. We don't really look at them as competitors. Like I said, we will coexist. TV still continues to be the primary screen of the household and family. And I think we will continue to be there. But this is about being true to our promise of delivering great content. So you have more non-fiction shows, fictional shows, like what kind of mix are you looking at? So we are looking at making our weekends very, very robust with non-fiction and impact properties. We are looking at bringing new impact properties on the weekend as well as the year rolls out. We will start off once Big Boss is over with Dance Devani. And we haven't, you know, seen a dance show in the last since the lockdown. So we are looking forward to that because we did Katharoke Khiladi, we did Big Boss and now we're going to look forward to Dance Devani. And post that, we are looking to look at some very disruptive new IPs from an impact property perspective. So yes, we will look at a very, you know, rollicking, robust weekend with new impact properties. And we'll continue to, you know, weave the fabric of the society through our prime time, new genres where we look at social commentary, we look at romance, we look at family, we look at very basic, we look at family bonding, we will look at different genres that will continue to entertain. And yes, we will have a very solid 7 to 11 PM prime time lineup with fiction shows. Some new fiction shows as well. Yes, of course, we will, we are in, in fact, going to launch looking at two new fiction shows in quarter four itself. When Big Boss gets over, you will look at two new fiction shows, very different all over again, shows that are going to be telling very different stories to my mind. They're beautiful shows. I've just had narrations last weekend. They're very, very fabulous. I'm sure they'll be really looking forward to that. So Nina, before we conclude, I would want to understand from you, how do you expect financial year 2022 to shape up for broadcasting sector? Because this year, last year has been pretty, you know, uncertain, and things did not really turn out the way you would have perhaps wanted them to be. Now, you think we will recover in 2021 or will it stretch to 2022 as somebody who's actually spent 25 years in the industry? What do you think, where are we as an industry? See, that's also a perspective of what's happening in the economy. And I can see that, you know, the economy is starting to pick up. I can see that consumer demand is starting to pick up. The sensex has reached a peak of sorts. And I think from what we see in quarter three and quarter four of this fiscal, I am very hopeful of a great 2021. And I do believe that we will go back at least to the FY20 levels, you know, the fiscal of FY20, which was last year, and we will go back to that for sure. And of course, it's a matter of time, but looking at how the two quarters of this fiscal have been, I'm very confident that we will come back with a very robust top line. And we will continue to deliver a very robust bottom line as well. This is for the industry or this is only for white committee? I think even from an industry perspective, see, the industry will take a little bit of time because other than television, the other media platforms are still recovering and are on a very slow recovery path, if I were to call it so, you know, particularly from the theater's perspective, or on-ground perspective, print, radio, everything is, you know, facing a slightly more slow recovery than television is. But television and digital, I think, are galloping. And we will look at, we will see a good robust comeback on those two platforms for sure. The other platforms, of course, will take some time to recover. But I think recovery is here. A lot of our advertisers have shown a whole lot of growth in the couple of quarters. If you look at some of the results of the FMCG companies have also talked about how their sales have grown over the previous year. So it looks very positive. And we as an organization are committed to continue our investments in content. We are storytellers at the heart of what we do. And we will continue to invest and entertain our viewers and make sure that we are also in the business of business at the end of the day. And we will ensure good top lines and bottom lines for our organization. Nina, thank you so much for speaking to us. And we wish you all the best. We wish that you meet your goals much before than, you know, you've actually planned. Thank you, Nazia. I think, you know, just as a last note, I would say that there are a couple of, you know, things that stood out for us in the year. That is of resilience. And I think that will continue with us for a long time and that resilience will take us to where we want to go. It has taught us to embrace disruption and it has embraced and it has taught us to think innovatively and out of the box. So I think resilience is one. And the second one that to my mind is that of gratitude. I think we cannot be more blessed and we have to be really grateful for the little thing 2020. Yeah, no, we just we just took so much for granted. And we to, you know, get into the next year with a whole lot of gratitude and resilience. And I think a couple of attributes will pay off. Yes, I think it's for all of us individually, professionally, personally, and as organizations. Yeah. Thank you, Nina. Thanks for talking to us. And we hope we get to speak to you more often in going forward now. We'll do. It's a promise I will try to keep. Thank you. Take care of yourself. Stay safe. And we fit in mind, body and soul. Thank you so much.