What's On India Date:   Sunday , January 31, 2010 The increasing number of TV channels in India has made it very difficult for viewers to know what programs are shown at what time and on which channel. On most occasions, viewers end up wasting a lot of time in just finding the program of their choice by zapping channels. However, thanks to What’s On India the task of deciding upon an interesting program to watch has become easier. Today, people using set-top-boxes are able to view program schedules of nearly 350 channels in India through the Electronic TV Program Guide (EPG) that the company has developed and deployed across cable and DTH networks. In addition, the company also has a dedicated website that provides the TV program listing. In December last year, the company also launched its own channel, which provides TV Guidance to viewers throughout the day. HEADQUARTERS: Mumbai HEADCOUNT: 80 PRINCIPALS: Atul Phadnis, Founder & CEO He has previously worked with companies like Rediffusion-DY&R, Mindshare, Starcom, and TAM Media. Looking at the market opportunity available in India following the introduction of digital TV in 2004, Phadnis decided to get into this space and started his own venture. Clientele: Airtel Digital TV, BIG TV, Hathway, DEN, and Digicable to name a few INVESTORS: Initially the company was self-funded. Then there was an Angel round by Wealth First Advisors followed by a VC investment by Nexus Venture Partners and Sequoia Capital. Competitors: While internationally there are companies like Tribune TV Data, Gemstar-TV Guide, and FYI Television that provide EPGs, Phadnis says that in India What’s On India is the only company operating in this space. WEBSITE: www.whatsonindia.com Business model: The company operates through an EPG licensing model with the DTH and cable operators. Another stream of revenue for the company is through advertisements on its channel. What is unique? With Indian TV viewers being unsure of what to watch, seventy percent of the time they just switch on the TV (as per the study by What’s On India) and watch what shows up. TV Guidance in the form of a channel or the EPG could be the right solution, as it would help viewers prioritize the TV shows or programs they want to catch. And the company is betting on this potential opportunity in this niche market segment created by the remarkable growth of the TV medium. Add to this, advanced television sets that are making a foray into the consumers’ drawing room, the increasing number of channels, and the astonishing growth of the Direct-to-Home (DTH) market could very well justify the company’s bet. Phadnis says, “By being the first player in India in this category for the last four years, we have the first mover advantage. Plus we have the right partners backing us, if competition starts to heat up in the future.” The Road Ahead : Phadnis feels that the adoption of digital TV will substantially increase in India in the coming years. He wants to offer TV guidance solutions to the more than 60 crore TV viewers in India. He says that since their offering is technology agnostic, in the future, the company also plans to provide TV guidance through mobile phones and other devices. Product: What’s On India has two key product offerings – one is an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) solution while the other is India’s first TV Guidance channel. As part of the EPG system, What’s On India aggregates programming information for hundreds of TV channels for thousands of their programs, complete with state-of-the-art metadata enrichment, tagging, editorial interventions, and translations for all kinds of set-top-boxes. The TV channel, on the other hand, provides round-the-clock information, recommendations, and previews of TV shows helping viewers to select the right shows on the TV according to their interests and moods.