Marathi Channels Survey feedback
 

Over the last few months quite a few members had requested us to work on getting Marathi channels on the satellite systems, such as DISH Network and DirecTV.  We decided to make sincere efforts in this regard.  Before approaching the satellite networks, we conducted a survey to find out what the interest level is amongst our community in this regard. This gave us a fairly decent idea of how large the subscriber base for Marathi channels would be. This will also give us additional bargaining power when we approach the satellite networks. 

As we took the online survey, we got huge respose. We sincerely thank you all for your time and interest. we have shared the results with Zee Network and will continue our discussions with them to explore the possibilty of bringing Zee Marathi to North America.
Here is the summary of the survey.

If you still have any questions regarding this survey, please check out the 'Frequently Asked Questions' section below.

Thank you very much for your time.

- BMM Committee


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):
Since we announced this project, quite a few questions were asked by our members.  We have tried to answer all of them in this section.  If you have additional questions that are not answered here, please feel free to send them to us via email to info@bmmonline.org


1)  Why did you start this project? 

Well, we thought there are quite a few good reasons to start this project:

a)  First and foremost, the new Marathi channels deliver top quality Marathi programs that are very entertaining as well as educational. 

b)  These channels create quite a few jobs for the Marathi speaking population, mainly in our homeland, Maharashtra.

c)  Channels of other Indian languages are already available in the US.  We believe that Marathi community is also interested in watching quality Marathi programs and keeping abreast with the events in Maharashtra.

d)  A new medium of transferring talents across all the Maharashtra Mandals in the US will be created.  This will bring the entire Marathi community in the US even closer.


2)  How soon can you make it happen?
Honestly, we don't have a set date in mind right now.  We hope to finish the survey process by Nov 15th, 2006.  Soon after that we will approach the DISH Network and DirecTV.  We will update you on the outcome of our meetings with them as quickly and as frequently as possible.

Obviously, if we get a GREAT response to the survey, and the number of "committed subscribers" is HUGE, it will make our negotiations very easy.


3)  How long will it take me to complete this survey?
The survey is designed in such a way that it shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes to fill it out unless, of course, you have a lot to say in the 'Comments' section - and if you do please (please) spare time to tell us what's on your mind.  We would love to hear it.


4)  Why do you need my contact information on the survey?
Before we answer that question, please note that ALL the information provided in this survey will be solely used for the purpose of this survey, and it will not be passed on to any 3rd party organization.

The main reason we are requesting contact information is to gather intelligent demographic data about the viewers.  This data will allow us to attract sponsors from various regions, since most of the channels now support targeted marketing.  It will also allow us to keep the hackers away and will give some credibility to the survey results.


5)  Why did you decide to use an independent 3rd party vendor (QuestionPro) for the survey?
We thought about building a tool for conducting a survey in-house ourselves, but since we are planning to pass on the results to DISH Network & DirectTV, we felt that using an independent vendor would give the results more credibility.

We evaluated several products, and chose QuestionPro because they have very sophisticated reporting solutions and because they allowed us to open an account for FREE. 


6) Besides filling out the survey how else can I help? 
Well, if you have any inside contacts at DISH Network or DirectTV we would love to hear from you.  We need to get in touch with as many influential employees at these satellite systems as possible.

Additionally, if you or someone you know would be interested in being a sponsor, we would love to hear from you as well.

You can reach us via email at president@bmmonline.org


7)  What about the local talent here in the US?  Who will attend their programs?  Aren't you discouraging the local talent by doing this?
One of the primary focus of the current BMM Executive Committee is to encourage the local talent in the US, and we will NEVER (EVER) shy away from that goal.  As pointed out before, the Marathi channels would create a new medium for delivering programs of the US based artists.  We are planning to have discussions with all four Marathi channels to reserve some time slots, during the prime time, for the talented artists in the US.  We hope they will oblige.