Why did Viacom 18 launch Colors Odia?

The outlook towards entertainment in India has undergone an overhaul in the last few years. The most prominent element of this overhaul is the transition from public entertainment to private entertainment. If you study Indian society, you will find that India has a long tradition of public entertainment. Be it the mythological dramas and musical shows that are prevalent in the villages, or the circus shows or cinema which have mass appeal, Indians love to entertain themselves through public entertainment. When television was introduced in Indian society, there was a slight departure from the culture of mass entertainment. Television signified that entertainment could be private and could enter people’s bedrooms. However, this departure was not as permanent as that in the western societies. Within a few years, instead of a private corner in bedrooms, television started taking a prominent centre stage in living rooms. Even today, Indians enjoy watching television with the entire family. Almost all the popular TV shows of India target the family audience as people love discussing the episodes at their dinner tables.

Since the last few years, Indian entertainment has started tilting towards personal engagement. This time the change is being driven by the advent of digital technology. Entertainment has started shifting itself from the big screens to the screens on your phones. More and more Indians are consuming content through social media and video streaming applications. In fact, the number of people who have started to prefer mobile based entertainment over television is increasing rapidly. This is definitely a matter of concern for the media companies that are invested in television. A few of these media companies have launched mobile applications and have started streaming television programmes on them. However, a few mobile based entertainment companies have already established a market for original shows in the mobile format. This is why applications launched by the television media companies are facing immense competition.

In this regard, Viacom 18 has followed a strategy of diversifying itself. It has started launching new channels in genres which were either untouched by television or neglected due to lack of investment. One such genre is regional entertainment. Although regional entertainment has great potential, it has been neglected by the media companies for a long time.  Viacom 18 is definitely doing the right thing by introducing quality channels in regional languages. You can consider Colors Odia as an example. Colors Odia is probably one of the first general entertainment channels in Odia which is doing great business. Hence, Viacom 18 should definitely continue with its strategy of diversification.