Dubai: It's "Yahala" time, folks! With a brand new look and slogan as well and backed up by the strategic launch of a premium Arabic general entertainment channel in high definition (HD), pay-TV operator OSN is intent on putting some distance between itself and the competition.
For the new channel — Yahala HD! — OSN is assuming full and direct control of setting the programming agenda, and the resulting investments, according to a senior official, are substantial.
While general entertainment offerings will be its staple, the 24-hour channel will have a skew towards comedy offerings.
"Until now, on the Arabic channels side, OSN was reliant on third-party operators; but we have been looking at consumer trends in trying to analyse where gaps existed and what type of content could fill them," said Hamad Malek, chief marketing officer at OSN, an entity created following the merger of the then rivals Orbit and Showtime in 2009.
Biggest gap
"We then found that the biggest gap was for premium Arabic content, and which was not easily available for sourcing from the market."
That eased OSN's decision to create an Arabic channel all of its own and featuring "premium, edgy and ahead of the curve" content. And in HD at that.
OSN will commission the content creation and one of the first series to go on air is called Hindustani, and shot in the Gulf and in India. The post-production was done in Dubai.
On whether an over-emphasis on comedy-fare wouldn't dilute the premium image that OSN wanted to create for Yahala HD!, Malek said: "I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. The premium image is based on how the content is produced and treated. "
"Moreover, it was clear from our findings that comedy done well would resonate with the youth viewers. There is a lot of science that goes behind acquiring and creating new channels," he said.
"We have extremely good relations with all of the best production houses. At the same time, through Yahala HD!, we are trying to encourage creative talents who might not be big names at this stage but have the potential."
Malek declined to specify the extent of the financial outlay on the venture apart from stating that OSN "invests hundreds of millions behind acquiring content".
The operator currently has a tally of 90 channels of which 15, including the latest one, are in Arabic, while HD offerings total 17. Towards the end of the year, OSN would have moved closer to 100 channels.
"Our business model works on having own channels as well as aggregating through third-party content providers," said Malek. "The model has worked extremely well for the company."
Apart from English and Arabic, the OSN network also extends to Filipino language fare.
On whether OSN would consider trying to open up possibilities with other demographics, Malek said: "We are dictated by consumer trends and if there are channels out there transitioning from free-to-air to a pay-TV set up, we could well be the partner of choice for them. That would be a natural process. But at this moment, there's nothing concrete that's taking place to expand the language offerings beyond what is there."
Rebranding
Radical image makeover
OSN's image makeover represents a radical updating of the look and feel the company seeks to project now. It was in 2009 that the OSN network came into being following the merger of the Orbit and Showtime platforms
As Hamad Malek, chief marketing officer at OSN, puts it, the changes are about "redefining" the TV viewing experience. The tagline ‘Just Imagine' tries to make that very point.
"Being a premium pay-TV operator and reliant on subscriptions to develop the business, our new branding reasserts the consumer-centric approach of the company and its focus on the individual and not on the advertiser."
The company does not reveal subscriber numbers. The OSN platform is part of the Panther Media Group, registered in the DIFC and owned jointly by the Orbit Group and Kuwait-headquartered Kipco.
