SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis of Discovery Channel India

by Faizul Haque

The analysis will elaborate and discuss the Strength and Weakness of Discovery Channel India. It will also discuss the opportunities and Threats for Discovery for the same country. It will help to have a view on the internal and external strategic analysis of Discovery India too.

Discovery in India – An Overview

Discovery Communications had entered the Indian television market in 1995 with its eponymous station offering that focused on nonfiction, infotainment programming. In India Discovery is running a non-profit organization. Almost after two decades , guided by a management team that was sound, it created a powerful brand presence in India and had assembled an awesome operation with 11 stations with various genres. Brands future relies on viewer & deliver on viewer expectations. The Discovery team understood they could not afford to be replacing even for a day in the Indian TV market that was strongly saturated and so competitive. Discovery was well on its way to becoming a global brand by 1995. In 2012 In India there were estimated 147 million TV households & the number of pay channels had grown from 20 in 1995 to more than 800 in 2012.Around 800 stations fighting for viewership they needed to make rough and swift choices day in and day out. Looking back on a few of the strategic moves they had made in India and their journey, it was clear that they managed to pick up particular distinctive abilities along the way. They had successfully “Indianized” a worldwide brand. Discovery had also, created a digital research platform called “Talk to Discovery” to gain customer feedback & view interest in their content & marketing campaigns. Discovery should develop the ability to make astute decisions & acquire the necessary agility to respond to the dynamic market in India .

SWOT Analysis of Discovery Channel India

Strength – Internal Strategic AnalysisWeakness –Internal Strategic Analysis
  1. Wide range of programs
  2. Special focus on survival skills shows
  3. Available in different 5 languages in India
  4. High-Definition
  5. Investment Backup
  6.  Show for Kids
  1. Repetition of Episodes.
  2. Major Focus on 2 Types of Programs
  3. Dubbed Programs
  4. Non-Indian host
  5. Dependent on Superstar
Opportunities – External Strategic AnalysisThreats – External Strategic Analysis
  1. Growing Concern fo Environment
  2. Building a Long-Term Relationship
  3. Introduce Indian Hosts
  4. Scope to Target Kids
  5. Other Linguals
  1. Internet as Substitute
  2. Needs of reorganization
  3. Freely Available Programs
  4. Strong competitors

The Strengths of Discovery

Internal-Strategic Analysis

  • A wide range of Programs – It offers more than 50 different programs on an Indian channel. The number is greater than the NatGeo channel and Travelling channel, the among the popular channel from the same industry.
  • Special Focus on Survival Skills Shows –It gives its special focus on survival shows. It has 4 main survival program shows.
  • Multiple Languages – It is available in more than 18 languages worldwide. In India, it is available in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, English.
  • Also available on HD – It is the first channel in its industry which is available in HD in India.
  • Investment Backup from Mother Company – It has large investment backup from its mother company.
  • Discovery Show for Kids Grown to the Larger Number – Unlike other channels from the same industry, it has introduced educational shows for kids. By 2014, the number of audiences grown to 6.2million.

The Weaknesses of Discovery

Internal-Strategic Analysis

  • Repetition of Episodes – Most of the time, Discovery conducts the program repetition which creates boredom in the audience. So, the number of new programs is low.
  • Major Focus – it has its major focus on wildlife, survival skills which make it to narrower.
  • All programs are dubbed – all the programs showed in Discovery channel are dubbed in the Hindi language. This type of strategy creates a robotic image of the channel.
  • No Indian host – The hosts are not Indian where the program is for Indian. It does not help to make a relation between the channel and the audience.
  • Dependence on Superstar – A program on SRK’s lifestyle was launched. When they did it, several audiences surged, but after that there were none. So, it made a specific type of audiences who do not love the educational programs but superstars.

The Opportunities for Discovery

External-Strategic Analysis

  • Growing Environmental Concern – There is an upsurge in the environmental concern among Indian people. This number is growing day by day as well. It will increase the number of the audience too.
  • Long Term Relationship – Building this relationship with the audience will bring more benefits. By introducing Indian hosts, Hindi language, and programs made in India will boost it.
  • Targeting New Audience Class – Scope for targeting kids is high. High potentiality is there.
  • Introducing Other Languages – Discovery India can go in other linguals such as Marathi, Gujrati etc.

The Threats for Discovery

External- Strategic Analysis

  • Substitutes – First, The internet is reducing curiosity about a particular topic. There are many video and personal blogs which are providing similar works and more specified.
    Recognition – Second, knowledge-based TV channels are not organized.
  • Freely Available – Third, the majority of the shows are becoming freely available on the internet without ad breaks.
  • The Competition – Finally, strong competitors are becoming stronger than before, such as NatGeo, Travelling etc.

Bottom Line

The SWOT analysis of Discovery Channel, India elaborated the Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats for Discovery India.

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