Excerpts:

Why did youdecide to launch Hallmark and Kermit at this juncture in India when the country's media industry is going through a crunch?

Research conducted by Leo Burnett has shown that there is demand for clean family fare in the Indian market. Hallmark and Kermit are the right products for Indian viewers who are looking for something different.

Hallmark is targeted at the English-speaking audience in the 25-45 year age group. Hallmark represents a new international quality channel with grand films and mini-series.

The Kermit Channel is targeted at kids in the 8-12 year age group. The endeavour would be to create the brand among the viewers in the age group below 15 years. Kermit's additional strength is its acceptability to both parents as well as kids.

Do you agree with the general perception that Hallmark made a late entry into India?

Going by the level of development of infrastructure in the Indian cable TV market, I would say the market is still at its infancy and will get mature over the years.By that standard, we are early here. For instance, the average cable TV subscription rates in the US is 10 times that of in India. The deflated price in the Indian market is not doing the industry any good.

If India is to attract foreign capital in the media business, the industry needs to organise itself. This, we believe, will happen over the next few years. The cable TV industry in this country is going through a transition and the viewers are settling for the idea of paid service. The future lies here. And we have a business plan spread over the next 10 to 12 years.

What kind of brand positioning are you looking at for the two Hallmark channels in the Indian market?

Both the channels are new concepts in the Indian cable market and we would have to carve out our target audience.

Hallmark as a brand has been in the market for quite sometime now. We are in the merchandising business in the country for Hallmark products. The group has significant number of retail outlets across the country andmanufacturing facilities for Hallmark cards. We look forward to following an integrated strategy, leveraging existing brand perception to push the channels.

Are you going for a two-pronged strategy of brand positioning where merchandising and channel promotion goes hand-in-hand?

A country-wide marketing push of our merchandising products is in the offing. A coordinated marketing effort promoting our merchandising interests and the channels will be carried out.

There will be direct communication through distributors. The company will go for retail displays in shopping malls. Schools will form an important medium for sending out affirmative messages about our programmes.

We will work closely with schools and give curriculum support in subjects such as English, mathematics and science.

All our programmes will highlight family values.

Would the network go for localisation of programmes in the country?

The network is not thinking in terms of customisation from the word go. We would liketo stay in the market before deciding to invest in sourcing software from India. Worldover, Hallmark does not own any studio. But we do invest in exclusive television productions with mega stars. We have produced a television movie on Mother Teresa and the network would continue to look for such opportunity in India.