Discovery JEET, the new kid on the block, the latest GEC offering for the Indian television consumers, lift its beaming curtains earlier this year (February).
Discovery’s, primarily famous for its infotainment genre, leap into mass content comes at an interesting time when the world is seeing a tectonic shift towards a rising preference of consuming content on the web.
The channel indeed has some interesting looking shows to begin with, however, none managed to set the ratings chart on fire.
Says a source: “The GRPs have been disappointing hovering around 4.5 to 5, setting the cat among the pigeons. Now, the think tank has been busy with some serious rejig discussions.”
Speculations hit the ceiling when content creators/makers were asked to halt shooting of ongoing shows recently. Two of its launch shows Gabru and Man Vs Wild have already been pulled off air.
There are whispers of probability of the channel shutting down too, which, however cannot be confirmed as of now.
Says a credible industry source: “Discovery was banking on the brand name. However, the marketing campaign of JEET being a GEC did not get through to the masses. Many felt the content would be docu drama. Furthermore, the shows are mostly topical, difficult to compete with ‘used to’ saas bahu saga consuming Indian audience. Gabru and Man Vs Wild are superb shows, but got completely rejected by the masses. The channel needs a serious rejig as it focused on the content rather than the product.”
Well, we have been told that the channel is currently taking feedback and conducting surveys. They would play out the current crop of canned shows and finish their first quota of content. Only if they see any merit in continuing, they would, of course with a renewed strategy (probably more massy content), adds the source.
We buzzed a channel spokesperson to seek a comment but we received no response till the time of filing the article.
IWMBuzz.com feels that Discovery JEET has lost its launch battle, however, it won’t shut given the network’s credibility. However, it needs to keep their ear on the ground and dole out content which will cater to audience interest.
We will keep you posted with more developments.
