Q&A: Star India’s Gurjeev Kapoor

Gurjeev Kapoor, the president of the international business at Star India, shares the strategies that have enabled the broadcast platform to export its content to 100 markets across the globe.

TV DRAMA: What’s driving Star India’s international business?
KAPOOR: Good storytelling can traverse borders, and this forms the core of our international business. The power of harnessing synergies across the diverse teams has been key in placing Star India’s content across 100 countries, including in major drama producing markets like the U.K., Turkey, Latin America and the U.S.

The structure of the international business ensures a holistic perspective and better returns.

TV DRAMA: How important is the program-sales side to your international business?
KAPOOR: This is an area where we were good but we want to grow exponentially. We’ve looked at the markets where we can leverage our business. [Having] a holistic perspective for our presence in distribution and ad sales across geographies will be key to driving all of our content-syndication efforts. Program sales have been a driver in expanding Star India’s content footprint across the world. They have been instrumental in driving viewership for Indian dramas in general, especially in big drama-producing markets like Turkey and Latin America.

We believe good storytelling can travel across cultures. Turkey is a great example. Our most successful series, Is Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon, made history as the first ever Indian drama series to air in Turkey. It broke many viewership records by quadrupling the channel ratings in that slot for our partner Kanal 7. This paved the way for many more Indian series on local Turkish television and Turkey continues to be a big market for us.

Star’s content syndication efforts have been [important] to putting Indian dramas on Latin American television. Our international best seller Saras & Kumud (Saraswatichandra) has driven viewership for our broadcast partners in leading markets like Chile and Peru, besides four other markets in the territory. Yours Truly, Paakhi (Tumhari Paakhi) is another show that has been received favorably in Peru. We are now looking at investing in dubbing a few of our [top] shows to derive maximum value.

TV DRAMA: Are you pursuing format-sales opportunities?
KAPOOR: Format sales are [important to] driving the next level of growth for the business. They allow good stories to root themselves in the local and cultural context and successfully drive relevance and viewership. While we have partnered with Eccho Rights to pitch the remake rights of three of our most successful shows, we also are in advanced talks with other partners in local markets.

TV DRAMA: How are you dealing with the pirate set-top boxes that people are using to get unauthorized feeds of your channels?
KAPOOR: Piracy is a major issue facing the broadcasting and digital content industry. Faster broadband has made this more rampant. We are treating it as a very serious issue that hampers the growth of the business. We are collaborating closely with our partners to fight piracy.

We’ve had some good results. We work very closely with DISH [in the U.S.] and have gone after Jadoo [an online platform] and others. We’re very happy with how DISH has approached it. Piracy must be dealt with seriously. This is where we require the help of platforms. Piracy is sabotaging their business.

TV DRAMA: Amla and P.O.W. Bandi Yuddh Ke on Star India, both based on international formats, featured storylines that were quite unusual for the local drama landscape. Has Star been adjusting its programming strategy, and what impact does that have on your international business?
KAPOOR: At Star, we have endeavored to be the platform for India’s best stories. Our goal is to bring original stories and some great stories from the world to the larger Indian audiences and both these shows did exactly this.

While we didn’t have the rights for Bandhi Yuddh Ke internationally, Amla and Sumit Sambhal Lega, remakes of hit international shows, were fairly successful in the U.K. However, ratings cannot be the only measure of success. Satyamev Jayate was launched with a social objective in mind. We believe in creating content that can inspire people and drive social change. Star Plus’s Ted Talks India: Nayi Soch is another offering in this direction.

TV DRAMA: How do Bollywood movies fit into your international strategy?
KAPOOR: The business of movies presents a great opportunity across the globe. We have a diverse catalog in our portfolio. However, good quality dubbing of movies presents some challenges. We are exploring dubbing opportunities in a couple of markets.

It’s a very big opportunity.

TV DRAMA: What are your big-picture priorities for Star’s international business in 2018?
KAPOOR: Star India is the leading broadcaster in India and will continue to invest in content that inspires people. Our new catalog has a mix of the best historical costume dramas and contemporary narratives that will cut across boundaries and resonate with audiences worldwide.

LatAm is one market where we are gaining a lot of traction for our content and we hope that we will continue to entertain our audiences there. Saras & Kumud has been hugely successful in seven countries in LatAm and our partnership with Latin Media Corp. has been instrumental in driving our growth in the region.

The Southeast Asian region continues to be an exciting market. All these years, people have loved our content in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Shows like Mahabharat, Diya Aur Baati Hum, Veera and Chandra Nandini have been received very well.

Europe and CIS countries are really excited about our new lineup of shows. Our partner Intellecta Srl has done a remarkable job in that market.

Our new lineup of shows like Love Ka Hai Intezar (The Wait For Love), Dhhai Kilo Prem (Imperfect Love), Tu Suraj Mein Saanj Piyaji (Soulmates season two) and Nimki Mukhiya (The Accidental Mayor) are generating a lot of interest. These shows have already captured the attention of audiences in India and are now on their way to winning audiences worldwide.