MUMBAI: India is seeing a flurry of launches in the action movie genre ahead of digitisation as broadcasters are keen to tap into a niche segment with a particular eye for subscription revenues.

National and regional media conglomerates like UTV, Sun TV Network and Star India either have entered or have plans to foray into the genre.

UTV Action, which airs Hollywood action movies dubbed in Hindi, launched its Telugu feed to dig into the Southern market as it has an affinity for action cinema. Star India has said it plans to launch two action movie channels (English and Hindi). The Hindi channel is expected to have the dubbed content along with Hindi action movies.

Sun TV has recently launched four regional ad free action movie channels - Sun Action in Tamil, Gemini Action in Telugu, Suriyan TV in Kannada, and Surya Action in Malayalam, catering to different segment of audiences.

Will the market support so many launches? Madison Media Group CEO Punitha Arumugam notes that it is good that channels in genres like action and food are getting launched as it will help advertisers do specific targeting.

?The future of Indian television is going to be in niches. The more you are able to offer options which target a certain psychographic of the target audience, the more it is actually going to find appeal,? Arumugam says.

As per her estimates, the size of the action genre is under Rs 500 million. ?Though for action movie channels the yields are low, the cost of acquiring content is also low. I am assuming that for all such channels, action-imported, dubbed stuff is being used,? she adds.

Action movie genre is led mainly by male viewership with preference first for action, then comedy and drama.

The genre has to evolve before it becomes accommodative of so many players. Lodestar UM chief growth officer Habeeb Nizamuddin admits that it is a niche within a niche. ?In terms of percentage, the highest spend by any category on the action movie channel is about 1.5 per cent of their overall spending. There are basically two categories -automobiles and consumer durables -who spend more on this category. Still, out of their overall ad spend, they just use 1.5 per cent for action movie channels,? he says.

The entry of Star into the genre will expand the thin ad market but still it will have to depend on pay-revenue models. But that won?t be an easy task. Says GroupM CEO Vikram Sakhuja, ?There is scope for people paying for exclusive viewing of live sports and good movies. This will become a sizeable opportunity only once digital distribution of C&S reaches critical mass. Having said that, relying 100 per cent on distribution revenues, in a market that has been spoilt on free content, is highly ambitious.?

Adds UTV Action business head Sameer Ganpathy, ?With multiple channels entering the space, the genre will surely stand on its own in the years to come. At present, there is no scope for the pay revenue model for action movie channels. But as India moves towards digitisation, the pay revenue model will become a part of the mainstream model."

MUMBAI: UTV Action, the dubbed Hollywood action movie channel from the UTV Group, has entered into a multi-year movie syndication deal with Warner Brothers International Television Distribution that adds a significant number of movie premieres to both UTV Action and UTV Action Telugu?s library.

The two-year deal involves a minimum of 60 movies for UTV Action and 50 titles for UTV Action Telugu.

"We have signed a long term deal with WB, which has a minimum commitment of 60 movies for UTV Action and 50 movies for UTV Action Telugu. It is a two-year deal with option of renewal. It gives us exclusive Hindi and Telugu language rights of the movies of WB," UTV Action and UTV Action Telugu programming head Manasi Sapre told Indiantelevision.com.

Sapre added that the deal with WB is very important and significant for the channel as WB is known for some of the best action movies.

The list of movies include The Lord of the Rings (triology), The Dark Knight, Shoot Them Up, Most Wanted, Cradle to The Grave, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Blue Sea, Golden Compass, Get Smart Jason X among others.

Sapre claims that the channel is making sizeable investments for the movie acquisitions while keeping in mind the RoI (return on investments). "We have our inventory fully sold. The RoI is very good; that?s why many Hollywood studios are looking at India as a lucrative market for dubbed movies," Sapre said.

The deal includes first airing after being shown on HBO and WB. "UTV Action has broad based the market and we reach out to a wider set of audience. The channel?s active movie library has around 350 titles for airing per year, while total titles are 450-500," Sapre said.

UTV Action was launched in January 2010. Last year, the channel had entered into a three-year movie deal with Sony Pictures Television (SPT) for the exclusive Hindi language telecast rights of 70 action films of SPT.

UTV Action Telugu, which was launched in June 2011, has a library of around 250 titles.