ITV

Category: Specials

  • Industry needs to come together to put all systems in place for Phase 2: Parameswaran

    Industry needs to come together to put all systems in place for Phase 2: Parameswaran

    MUMBAI: The multi system operators (MSOs) might have successfully installed set top boxes (STBs) in majority of homes in phase 1 of digitisation but the government feels that is just one aspect of the drive and other aspects like subscriber management system (SMS) and billing system need to be put in place if the real benefits of digitisation have to be realised.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) wants the industry to set things right for Phase 2 of cable TV digitisation. Trai consultant N Parameswaran said Tuesday that the stakeholders need to work towards having all the systems in place in order to implement digitisation in letter and spirit.

    “Digitisation has not happened in a manner that we wanted to. It’s not a regulatory issue. The industry has to come together and ensure that that all the systems are in place from day one for phase 2,” he said.

    According to Parameswaran, the real benefits of digitisation have not reached people. "The subscriber management system is not in place. What has happened is only set top boxes have been installed,” Parameswaran said, while taking part in a panel discussion on digitisation at Ficci Frames 2013.

    Parameswaran said that the Trai had recently issued notices to MSOs and LCOs (Local Cable Operators) to make their SMS operational in DAS areas to ensure things fall in place.

    While commending the industry for achieving digitisation in a short span of time, Den Networks CMD Sameer Manchanda assured that the SMS and billing system will fall in place in 60 days.

    “We should have all things in place in 60 days. Putting eight million STBs was a herculean task. Digitisation has taken years in other countries,” Manchanda said.

    IndiaCast Group CEO Anuj Gandhi said the ARPUs (Average Revenue Per User) will increase gradually. The key is to segment existing channels and create packages accordingly. A case in point, Gandhi said, was having a South Indian channel package for Mumbai.

    Gandhi urged the industry to take one step at a time. The immediate priority, he said, was to get back-end systems in place. “For broadcasters, it’s a scary thought that the customers are getting more channels for the same price,” averred Gandhi.

    According to Multi Screen Media (MSM) CEO Man Jit Singh, government should continue to play the facilitators role like it did in the first phase. He also said that STBs have installed, subscribers are getting digital signals but little has changed apart from that.

    “What we have shown in first phase is that we came together as an industry to implement digitisation. The government also has a critical role to play. It should continue to play the facilitators role to bring together different stakeholders in the industry,” Singh said.

    He added, “Tiering and ARPU is incremental to drive the market together by understanding the consumer needs and expectations. The burden of expansion has to be shared by the Local Cable Operator (LCO), Multi System Operator (MSO), broadcaster and the consumer.”

    IBM Global Business Services India/SA Director & Partner, Industry Leader – Media & Entertainment Raman Kalra said that it is important for the industry to keep parallel strategy in place as the business model is evolving continuously.

    “Consumer is willing to pay but the industry should know how to extract it. The key is to know your customers to facilitate micro-segmentation and then work on the content strategy accordingly,” Kalra said.

    Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) CEO Tarun Katial said the advent of digitisation has made things easier for new channels as the carriage and placement is not a big problem anymore.

    He also said that the availability of more channels has meant that consumers are sampling more channels which is good for niche channels. He also felt that dynamics will change as advertisers will now have to shell out more for advertising on television as subscription revenues go up and advertising duration is cut down.

    Times Television Network (TTN) MD & CEO Sunil Lulla said, “The current economics are not adequate for the success of Phase 2 of digitisation. There is an urgent need for industry transformation and an effective change in consumer experience. We are sitting at the cusp of change where widespread and deep digitisation will happen on the back of consumers, regulators and government working together.”

  • Building the ecosystem for engaging 1 billion consumers

    Building the ecosystem for engaging 1 billion consumers

    MUMBAI: Creativity, technology and right regulation will set the tone for engaging a billion consumers in India‘s changing media and entertainment landscape.

    Television broadcasters need to imbibe an important mindset change as they address diverse audiences. Says Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) MD and CEO Punit Goenka, "The industry has only just begun to take baby steps in the creation of content for a diverse audience and has a long way to go. Fragmentation of audience is the order of the day. It is time we stop seeing ourselves as broadcasters and instead consider ourselves as content creators and aggregators.”

    Even print publishers, under threat in the matured markets from digital media, will have to sharpen their connect with audiences. Says Bennett & Coleman, CEO publishing Ravi Dhariwal, "The trick is to recognise and capture small audiences and then retain and nurture them. For this, we have a creative team that has the full freedom to experiment and come up with engaging ideas and a marketing team that understands the consumers and acts as the bridge between the creative team and the target audience. What is really crucial is the sync between the marketing team and the creative minds.”

    Others participating at Ficci Frames in a session on "How to engage a billion consumers in the media and entertainment landscape" were Disney UTV MD Studios Siddharth Roy Kapur, Viacom 18 Media group CEO Sudhanshu Vats, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific senior VP and GM India Rahul Johri and Twitter Inc head of global operations Shailesh Rao. The session was moderated by Star India CEO Uday Shankar.

    The panel discussed and debated on how a balance among the three three pillars of creativity, technology and regulation could lead to an effective mechanism for capitalizing on the one billion population plus of the country. The panel also discussed on the emergence of new media as a means of providing a thrust to the M&E industry in terms of reach and effectiveness. Everyone agreed though that reaching a billion consumers is a double edged sword that presents a challenge as well as an opportunity.

    The discussion also touched upon the fact that India is a diverse country with various nuances to its cultural, social and economic fabric. Is the media and entertainment industry of the country ready to cater to an audience so diverse in its constitution?

    Vats optimistically said, “The key to sustaining in such a diverse environment is to sharply segment the audience and target it. We are already doing so in many of our practices, but we need to do it more and more in the days to come.”

    Vats and Goenka, however, agreed that the mega consumer trend is fast catching on. We now see the evolution of the ‘I’ consumer that demands customised content to better suit his individuality as opposed to the ‘We’ consumer who is satisfied with mass content. The presence of multiple screens – whether it is more than one television set at home, or one person accessing multimedia like tablets, laptops, smartphones etc. – is here to stay. This, in fact, will provide opportunity to reach more consumers and customise content accordingly.

    Roy Kapoor stressed on the fact that in case of movies, it is the creativity that has managed to increase the reach of the cinema. He cited the example of the nineties when pan India hits had become rarer by the day owing to the fact that regional audiences ceased to relate to the movies anymore. With the advent of digitsation of movies at the turn of the century, parallel movies and hardcore commercial cinema have begun to co-exist and, in fact, be accessed by the same consumer.

    “In my view, the challenege as far as cinema is concerned is the infrastructure, or the lack of it. We are a country that has a very low screen density and this hampers the reach to a large extent,” he said. In his opinion, the trick is to expand the footprint and grow as an industry. He suggested three ways to do so – ensure content syndication on theatrical and non theatrical platforms, use the smaller screen to get content distributed and explore new markets to encourage people to watch movies legitimately.

    According to Johri, localisation will drive the industry to grow exponentially and involve a billion consumers through multiple interfaces.

    Rao stressed that technology can help in increasing reach – as is obvious when new media platforms like Twitter are used to service the business and not for technology sake. “It is important to match the creativity of the medium with the audience. TV and print have been Push mediums and new media gives the opportunity to talk to the audience that can go a long way in reaching out to more people.”

    The panel agreed that regulation in various media needs to be looked at as more often than not, it has been found to discourage the growth of the medium.

    Further, Vats pointed out that the media and entertainment industry is an essentially consumer centric arena, but business and revenue models are still predominantly B2B. “So instead of setting the pricing according to what the market can pay, we set the pricing according to our business model and targets,” he said.

    In case of cinema, Roy Kapoor feels that capitalising on the non theatrical platform could be a good option. “The non theatrical platform benefits from the marketing carried out for the theatrical platform. We are still not at a stage when movies can be exclusively carried on non theatrical platforms as then they would miss out on the hype that those released on theatrical platform have.”

    At the end of it, the panel almost unanimously believed that while creativity and technology are proving to be boons for the growth of the media and entertainment industry and helping it inch towards reaching a billion consumers, the regulation bit needs to be worked on to smoothen the process.

  • Disney focusing on four lines of business in India around five brands: Andy Birdrd

    Disney focusing on four lines of business in India around five brands: Andy Birdrd

    MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company, which gobbled up UTV Software Communications last year, is building four specific lines of business in India centring around five brands.

    Television, Film, Digital Media and Consumer Products will be the four verticals Disney will focus on. "We have five franchises – Disney, UTV, Marvel, Bindass and the newly acquired Star Wars – to play around in India. The acquisition of UTV has given us 250 million new consumers in this market that we couldn‘t reach before," said Disney International MD Andy Bird.

    Consumers already have a strong relationship with two of those five brands, and seek them in at least three of those core businesses.

    Delivering the keynote address at Ficci Frames 2013, Bird said that with the acquisition of UTV and the creation of the new Walt Disney Company India, Disney became India’s leading film studio and TV producer. "We are now one of India’s leading broadcasters, reaching more than 100 million viewers every week across the country. The UTV deal also positioned us as a significant player in the digital media space, thanks to Indiagames, the number one mobile gaming company in this market. And, just as importantly, the deal gave us the brilliance and vision of Ronnie Screwvala – the man behind UTV’s incredible rise – to build The Walt Disney Company in India.”

    What was the thinking behind buying UTV? “When we made the decision to buy UTV, we did it with two considerations in mind – the first was to create a diverse company in India; but also importantly it was to acquire the talents of Ronnie Screwvala to run the new company. As many of you know, Ronnie is a rare breed of entrepreneurs who has successfully built UTV and embraced Indian and Western cultures. I am so proud to count Ronnie as one of my friends and to have him lead the Walt Disney Company in India with his magnificent creative management team,” Bird said.

    He also spoke about Disney in India being different from what it is elsewhere. “The Walt Disney Company India will be unlike any other Indian media company: none will have the breadth of brands and franchises that TWDC India will have. No other Indian media company will have the breadth of businesses we will have and no other Indian media company will connect with generations of consumers like The Walt Disney Company India will do.

    “In India, we have built a creative prowess, second only to that found in the U.S. We have creative teams here in India who produce a slate of diverse films, produce a spectrum of original TV programming across our networks, build mobile games and applications and create style guides for our consumer products business. We are building a company that is far greater in scope than just one business, or being defined as being just in distribution and marketing. We are building the Indian Walt Disney Company.”

    Bird is excited about working with Indian talent, in-front and behind the camera, to create local franchises and look to export this talent to markets outside of India – offering opportunites for talent in Hollywood movies. “The Disney-UTV team is already working with their colleagues at Disney, Pixar, Marvel and now Lucas to innovate and produce even better product for here in India. Our Interactive team is working very closely with our Japan team – where we do the most amount of innovation in interactive and mobile outside the US – to really take this space in India to the next level and be ready for the Broadband wave that India will no doubt see."

    The aim at the end of the day is to build a content, creative, brand and franchise company in India. “ Of course, I have not touched on our Live Entertainment business as that is a work in process..so watch this space,” Bird added.

    He also spoke about the rapid rise of new technology and the fact that India’s more recent focus on this sector means that the country is capable of the kind of instantaneous shifts and opportunities in the media and entertainment space that simply are not possible in countries like the U.S. that will literally have to rip out existing infrastructure in order to replace it with the new technology that will drive the future. “ That’s an expensive proposition and one that will slow critical change in some of those more established markets – while India has the chance to define itself with the latest technology and innovation unencumbered by the remains of technology that defined the last century.”

    Differences in Markets: Disney recognises that there are different markets around the globe and it is no longer “domestic” versus “international”.

    “We recognize that each market we enter essentially needs its own “Disney” company – with strategies and products and messages that are compatible with the culture and relevant to local consumers. And we see tremendous opportunity in rapidly emerging markets like China, Russia, Latin America, South Korea – and, of course, India – so connecting with consumers in these regions is a key strategic priority for Disney, and will be integral to our future growth," Bird said.

    That’s why Disney‘s strategy for each region reflects local market realities and opportunities. "Our approach here in India is focused on media and entertainment – because that’s where we see the greatest potential for Disney, not only because the industry here is poised for a huge leap forward, but because of the rapidly rising middle class of consumers and their traditional focus on the family," Bird noted.

    “This is radically different than our strategy in China, for example, which is much more restrictive on the content imported into the country. In China, we’re focused on building our presence and our brand by telling Disney stories through theme parks and a strong retail effort. Likewise, our China strategy is quite different from our approach in Latin America, where we’re transitioning Disney from a high-end, rather elite brand, into the broader mass market.

    “The Disney brand will remain strong and clear and everything we do anywhere in the world will reflect the brand values consumers know and trust – but each market will dictate how consumers access and interact with that brand. At the Walt Disney Company, we believe that in stories we find the imagination needed to envision a better tomorrow, and the inspiration to make that vision come true. This belief guides how we act as a company, and how we connect kids, families, and friends first with each other, and then with the causes they care most passionately about,” Bird stated.

    Meanwhile, Disney Media Networks co-chair and Disney-ABC Television Group president Anne Sweeney spoke about the importance of understanding audiences and what they aspire for. That is why Disney is in the field everyday listening to kids, parents in terms of who they are what they do and what they aspire for. Then Disney builds stories around this. This is the strategy that Disney decided to do back in 1996 when Sweeney joined the company. "At that time there was confusion about the brand identity of Disney Channel. By doing research which focused on the quality of conversation with kids and parents rather than on the quantity Disney channel was able to become a powerhouse," she said.

    Sweeney also noted that to make great content at times one has to make unexpected choices. She gave the example of ’Hannah Montana’ where Miley Cyrus, an unknown, was cast as the channel spotted her potential. “We decided to take the riskier road and that led to greater reward," she said.

    Speaking on localisation, Sweeney said Disney started doing local shows in India in 2011. "We have five local shows in production," she added. "We also have a further four pilots in the pipeline. We celebrate cultural events like Diwali and Holi.”

    Sweeney said that it is important to strike a balance between adapting foreign formats and creating truly original content. She also touched on technology saying that one can make feature film content on a television budget. "One could do things that a few years ago were considered unthinkable. The drama ‘Lost’, for instance, used CGI," she averred.

  • Viacom18 looking at regional play and more channel launches: Bob Bakish

    Viacom18 looking at regional play and more channel launches: Bob Bakish

    MUMBAI: Viacom18, the equal joint venture company between Viacom and TV18, is looking at launching more channels, expanding into regional markets and creating content for new media.

    Viacom is conducting a due diligence on the ETV general entertainment channels (GECs), Viacom International Media Networks President, CEO and Viacom18 board member Robert Bakish said today. "The regional markets are seeing fast growth," he added.

    Indiantelevision.com was the first to report that TV18 had offered Viacom the option to buy 50 per cent stake in five ETV GECs and 24.5 per cent equity interest in ETV Telugu. If Viacom decides to buy stake, the ETV GECs would move to Viacom18.

    When asked about what kept the joint venture alive (the only surviving one in the M&E space between a global media giant and a local company), Bakish said that it is not enough to have a shared vision. “The success of a JV is all about having a cultural fit. Our venture has had challenges and we have been forced to evolve. We decided to get into film production. We launched more channels like Sonic. Then we created IndiaCast to take advantage of digitisation. We see an opportunity to export content from India. We created a channel in the UK, Rishtey, using content from Colors and MTV.”

    The aim of Viacom partnering with Network18 was to make a local cultural connection. “In 2006 we realised that India offered opportunities we could not ignore. Viacom has resources but we felt the need for a local partner. JVs are a tradeoff. You don’t have complete control. Therefore it is important to have productive dialogue. In Korea, we have a JV with SBS which started a year ago,” said Bakish.

    In India, the company realised that brand positioning would be key. Therefore the decision was taken to make Colors edgier and more of a risk taker. “The good news for India is that more local production money is coming in. Out of this will come quality content.” He also noted that a hit television format is the most valuable IP. “After all, a local version of ’Fear Factor’ played a key role in Colors’ launch and success.”

    Network18 Group CEO Sai Kumar said the joint venture had been helped by the alignment between the two companies in terms of the scale of ambition and challenges that would have to be met. He noted that IndiaCast has allowed for reverse migration. Colors is now in 70 countries. “It is not just about the channel going abroad. Even shows like Ballika Vadhu have been being picked up abroad,” he said.

    Talking about new media, Sai Kumar said while platforms like OTT and VoD represent a risk and an opportunity, Viacom18 prefers to focus on the latter. Kumar noted that 13 years ago distribution became king as there was a lack of platforms to showcase content. Today the good news is that content is once again king. "The challenge today is that while consumption of content is at its highest it has gone multi device. The different platform windows are each a kingdom. With these platforms the possibility of milking content for revenue has gone up. The long tail will stand a better chance in the future,” he averred.

    Kumar called IndiaCast the second phase of the JV partnership.

    “Indiacast has a global multiplatform mandate.” Bakish said. “Star and Zee surprised people by coming together. We responded by creating one entity and partnered with Disney UTV to unlock the value of digitisation. While Nickelodeon and Disney compete fiercely with each other globally, the fact is that you have to look at each country differently."

    Referring to film business in India, Kumar noted that it is a great adjunct for Viacom18’s other businesses. “There are opportunities for synergies in our film business with Colors and other channels. At the same time, our exposure to film will be strategically limited. Having two films that are hits does not mean that the next three will also work. With each film you start from ground zero.”

    Bakish noted that film production business is not for the faint at heart. “We had long conversations about why we were in the film production business. We have had hits and misses but that is the nature of the game. Not everything will work.”

    In terms of the challenges facing the media and entertainment industry, Bakish spoke about the lack of reliability in measurement globally due to multiple platforms. “India is great to do business in but it isn’t perfect. Could digitisation have happened sooner? Sure. Could Phase one of DAS have been a solid four cities? Sure! Phase two is now happening and the industry needs to keep up the pressure to see that things work”, he noted.

    Kumar noted that advertising is now at its softest. Things will not change unless the measurement system improves. More homes for SEC A could help the niche genre, he added.

  • M&E industry lacks reliable data: Uday Shankar

    M&E industry lacks reliable data: Uday Shankar

    MUMBAI: For a $15 billion media and entertainment industry, the lack of reliable data is one of the major factors pulling down growth.

    Star India CEO and chairman of the Ficci Media & Entertainment Committee Uday Shankar wondered how a fledgling industry could function without availability of acceptable data.

    Urging stakeholders of M&E industry to set their house in order, Shankar said that there is lack of reliable data on audience measurement across verticals of the media and entertainment sector.

    "How can this industry function without a shared and non-controversial view of the most basic facts? Numbers are supposed to be the foundations of rational business decisions. How can we make decisions when professionals in the business of numbers can’t get their numbers straight?," he questioned.

    The lack of reliable data is not limited to TAM, Shankar elaborated. "As a TV executive, I am surprised sometimes how I am even able to function. I do not know enough about my viewers – in fact, I don’t even know how many of them are there. There are 140 million cable and satellite homes but the measured universe is 62 million households."

    Shankar also said that the country’s premier media agencies differ on a fact as basic as the size of the advertising market.

    He also pointed out that it‘s not just the television industry that suffers from lack of reliable data. In fact, the whole industry across verticals is functioning without proper data.

    "The ambiguity in data for other sectors of the media and entertainment is no less. For instance, no film producer seems to know accurately how many people actually bought tickets to watch his film," Shankar averred.

    Shankar also exhorted that there is a need for a change of mindset among stakeholders to take the industry to the next level.

    The M&E industry is a real economic enterprise and not just a vehicle of glitz and glamour, one that has the potential to solve the problem of unemployment by creating new jobs.

    "The time has come for all of us to make sure that it is not just industry status that we seek; it is a fundamental change in mindset," Shankar said, while delivering his keynote address today at Ficc-Frames 2013, an annual media and entertainment conclave held in Mumbai.

    He also said that the M&E industry is capable of creating employment and wealth much faster than most other sectors and has the ability to be a force multiplier, like it is in most countries.

    "It is particularly relevant in India because it can be an employment generator without massive public investments and without being hampered by the deficiencies of public infrastructure. Just to put things in perspective, as a $15 billion industry, we employ over 6 million people. This can be so much more significant and meaningful," he said.

    He also bemoaned the fact that the industry despite the huge potential has not got the adequate support from government.

    A case in point, Shankar said, was the government‘s recent decision to increase customs duty on Set Top Boxes, notwithstanding the fact that the cost of STBs will go up at a time when the country is moving towards mandatory cable television digitisation and impose withholding taxes on content rights

    "The lens often used to look at this industry is largely one of glamour and propaganda and the biggest debate is on how to control and contain it. As a result, the growth of M&E has not been supported by policy and regulatory initiatives," he added.

    Emphasising that the industry is facing an imminent talent crunch, Shankar said: “We hide under the pretense of creativity and have convinced ourselves that creativity gives us the license to be informal and chaotic. It is this informality and chaos that has seeped into our approach to spotting and grooming talent. This is dangerous. We must realise that discipline and formality are not antithetical to creativity and if anything they are necessary ingredients to fostering the creative process.”

    Shankar said efforts to curb free speech in a robust democracy like India is one of the biggest challenges that can potentially derail the industry from its trajectory. “When Satyamev Jayate points to weaknesses in the medical system, doctors are offended. When Jolly LLB creates a courtroom satire, lawyers are offended. Even when a precocious teenager posts a comment on Facebook, some people start baying for her blood,” he lamented.

    “What is interesting to me is that we all agree that the role of media is to question the status quo. But with the right to question must come the right to provoke and the right to offend.”

    Shankar also set out the ambitious Rs 10 billion target for Indian movies. "We should work hard and strive for such success. If the stakeholders can come together, a lot can be achieved. We have seen that in the case of digitisation," Shankar said.

  • English GECs bet big on digitisation

    English GECs bet big on digitisation

    The early exit of BBC Entertainment and focus on target segmentation marked the English general entertainment channel (GEC) genre as digitisation propelled change in 2012.

    Audience stickiness continued to be a challenge for the English channels, forcing them to ramp up marketing to ensure that perception fell in line with their product offerings.

    In a digital environment, channels will have to increase their local feel and touch. AXN, which has completed 15 years in India, is getting more aggressive in the marketplace. The India operations is in the process of shifting from Singapore and there will be more local shows.

    “Operationally, we will have the scheduling and programming move to India. We will thus be able to sensitise to the Indian tastes and needs. We will also be able to move to the market quicker and respond to advertiser queries faster,” says AXN‘s newly appointed India head Sunil Punjabi.

    The positioning of the channel also changed from the ‘heart of action and adventure‘ to ‘It‘s Thrilling‘. A survey was conducted in January 2012 and it was found that AXN viewers wanted content that went beyond action. There was craving for a deeper, richer and engaging experience.

    Explains Punjabi, “Our aim is to broaden the genre. Our focus now rests on content that is high on energy and engagement. That is why we moved away from our action position to thrills. We have added layers to our strategy.”

    A part of this strategy is to provide light content early and then move on to the later part of prime time with shows that have substance. The aim: to evenly split between dramas and reality. Says Punjabi, “Unlike our competitors, we don‘t have sitcoms. Serious dramas are not their main focus. And non-fiction and reality shows comprise just 20 per cent of their content lineup.”

    Star World has been striving to bring shows relevant to the English content viewing audience. A case in point is the airing of the Australian TV series ‘Packed To The Rafters‘. And to make the show more relatable to the audience, Star World made Karan Johar the face of the campaign.

    “From our Hindi and regional GECs, one of the biggest learning is that viewers seek life lessons from the daily soaps they watch. The issues faced by the Star World audience, the English speaking, urban Indian youth, is quite myriad and they don‘t get to see shows which reflect their life on TV. Our audience will be able to resonate with the issues faced by the characters in Packed to the Rafters and emulate the way they resolve the conflicts,” says Star India senior VP, English programming Rasika Tyagi.

    In March 2012, Star World created a block called ‘Crime At Ten‘ that imbibed the American style of showcasing programmes in a checkered format. The property showcased the latest seasons of crime shows, including ‘Dexter‘, ‘Castle‘ and ‘Criminal Minds‘ that aired on weekdays at 10 pm.

    Big CBS, the JV between RBNL and US media conglomerate CBS, is pushing CBS flagship shows as well as adding layers through localisation.

    According to Big CBS business head Anand Chakravarthy, DAS (digital addressable systems) is one of the biggest things to have happened for the genre. “With the first phase of digitisation having started, the genre penetration has grown substantially in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata – the three biggest markets for English GEC. Carriage fee reduction has also happened,” he says.

    But not everybody shares this sense of optimism. BBC Worldwide Channels was not willing to wait for digitisation to take matured shape. Two channels – BBC Entertainment and CBeebies – were shut late in the year. BBC Worldwide Channels, Asia senior VP, GM Mark Whitehead bemoaned the fact that India was the only country where they had to pay carriage fees. “The nature of the Indian market for pay-TV channels make the economics of running channels very challenging at this time. We have reluctantly concluded that we need to close our channels.”

    For those who cared to wait, wider distribution of channels is beginning to happen. A case in point is FX and Fox Crime, both uniquely positioned in this space.

    Comedy Central, which has completed a year, is hoping segmentation would start paying in a digital form of distribution. Viacom18 Media senior VP, GM English entertainment Ferzad Palia says that he is encouraged by feedback received on Twitter and Facebook. “Even with digitisation, you need to get more English language speaking homes into the overall sample. We find that comedy works both with mature and new audiences. But there is room for improvement in terms of things like scheduling.”

    Converting Snacking into loyalty: To get viewers to stick on, some English GECs are trying out a better balance of content. Also, a stripped strategy is being followed which makes it easier for fans of a certain show to follow what is going on.

    Punjabi says that the genre would continue to have this challenge of converting snacking to loyalty. AXN‘s strategy is to have branded slots which will help viewers to recall the type of programming on a particular time band. “Hence we are building loyalty on slots. AXN has the highest spread of programming genres and we believe we have a lot more to offer to our viewers.”

    Another way to building loyalty is airing seasons back to back. Before a new season kicks off, older seasons are aired. This helps market these shows and more sampling takes place. “But this strategy is not followed for reality content as that does not make sense,” avers Punjabi.

    Zee Network business head niche channels Anurag Bedi also feels that longer seasons of shows are key to building loyalty. “Longer seasons in prime time are what our current focus is on. Currently we have brought on ‘Numbers‘ on Zee Cafe which will air on the channel till its sixth season. Then we have ‘Gossip Girl‘ season four, five and six. Bringing newer seasons of the popular shows and understanding the viewership needs builds loyalty,” he says.

    Zee Cafe implemented the stripped strategy with the understanding that Indian viewers have a set way of consuming television, which is Monday to Friday. “The Indian viewers prefer daily shows and clubbing number of seasons together helps retain the viewer over a long period of time. Stripped format coverts snacking into loyal viewership,” says Bedi.

    Big CBS took the simulcast route to build stickiness. ‘X-Factor‘, ‘America‘s Got Talent‘ and ‘American Idol‘, for instance, were simulcast across the three channels. “Now we will no longer simulcast. We are building our primetime band,” says Chakravarthy.

    To increase reach and boost sampling, many channels in the genre air movies. Sporting properties are also seen as an opportunity by Big CBS Prime which shows martial arts and wrestling. Chakravarthy explains that movies are shown on the weekend. “Movies become a great destination for sampling the channels as they pull in a larger audience. They also offer good sponsorship opportunities. The aim of having sporting properties is to broad base the channel. Sports bring in both younger and older audiences.”

    The ad pie: English general entertainment channels raked in about Rs 1.3 billion in 2012.

    Multi Screen Media president networks sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta believes that shifting AXN‘s operations to India will help the broadcaster to work more closely with clients. “AXN has seen a 20 per cent revenue growth. We will be able to focus on shows that work well in India and offer more tailored solutions to clients,” he says.

    Palia claims that 150 brands advertised on Comedy Central. “Many TVCs are funny. So people on our channel are more receptive towards them as they are in a similar frame of mind,” he said.

    The Future: The genre can expect more channel launches amid digitisation as better distribution revenues are realised.

    Chakravarthy expresses satisfaction that digitisation is forcing broadcasters to focus more on content. “Everybody is trying to bring in really good quality shows. The genre and the audience will gain,” he says.

  • Music channels sing growth tune in 2012: Punit Pandey, EVP & Business Head, 9X Media Group

    Music channels sing growth tune in 2012: Punit Pandey, EVP & Business Head, 9X Media Group

    The Music Broadcasting scenario in 2012 has registered a significant growth both in terms of viewership, which is more consumption of the genre leading to absolute GRPs, and also in terms of ad revenues as compared to 2010.

    Way back in early 2010, the youth & music genre had a viewership share of 5.6 per cent in the total TV space, which went up to 6.7 per cent in 2011 and has grown to 8.5 per cent by end of 2012. One of the key reasons for the growth in consumption is the number of channels launched in these three years. There currently exist 15 Hindi music/youth channels catering to youth (the C&S 15-24 ABC target segment), which had only a count of eight in early 2010.

    Music genre revenues for the year 2012 were in the region of Rs 5.50 – Rs 6 billion with the Hindi Music genre contributing the lion’s share at approximately Rs 4.25 – 4.50 billion. In 2011 this number was around Rs 3.50 – 4 billion and should translate to Rs 4.80 – 5 billion in calendar year 2013.

    I would optimistically call this a significant growth given the nature of the content on a pure play music channel. Music which forms over 90 per cent of the content on any pure play music channel is a generic commodity. Therefore the key differentiator between pure play music channels is the packaging and the presentation by the channel which is the ‘Viewer Experience’.

    Like at 9XM, we give equal attention to content and the on-air presentation. The A Cappella version of Maa Tujhe Salam or the Ganesh special collaboration with Taufiq Quershi or the special rendition of the popular freedom song Yeh Desh Hai Veer Jawano Ka aired on 9XM has always resonated well with the viewers giving the channel an edge over other similar pure music channels. With viewers now having the option to choose the channels they want to watch, content may soon become more important than distribution in the digital era and therefore the on-air presentation will play a bigger role in case of pure music channels like ours.

    Another trend in the music broadcasting sector is the launch of regional and niche channels. At 9X Media, we have launched regional channels such as 9X Tashan (the Punjabi music channel) and 9X Jhakaas (Maharashtra’s first Marathi music channel) and have also ventured into the niche category with 9XO (International music channel) and 9X Jalwa (Timeless Bollywood Hits channel). These regional channels get their fair share of loyal viewers thus bringing in ad revenues from regional as well as national clients with regional focus. The niche channels are now part of media plans to target a specific set of consumers who are loyal viewers of such channels. With digitisation, the subscription revenues for such channels are also on the rise.

    In the first phase of digitisation which was restricted only to the four metros of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, niche television channels have gained ground. These channels have witnessed an increase in viewership thanks to the higher reach of digital networks. While analog networks had the bandwidth to carry only 80 to 90 channels, digital networks can carry as many as 500 channels.

    Also, broadcasters earlier had to shell out exorbitant carriage fees to cable operators. In the digital era, this fee is expected to drop significantly.

    The implementation of Digital Addressable System (DAS) in the second phase will cover 38 cities. This will positively impact the music television genre on account of increase in viewership driven by increasing Reach and TS (Time Spent) Viewer. This in turn should help to increase genre revenues. Music channels would now be included in Media plans to boost incremental reach along with frequency. Also, as music channels broadly do not operate at high PCS levels like the GECs, with DAS this factor gets negated. Hence, Music channels will witness increased reach.

    2012 also witnessed the change in the programming strategy of some of the music and music + youth channels, with Channel [V] dropping music from its content and MTV lowering the music content substantially. In 2013, we may see more channels going this route because of higher GRP / Revenue potential. Ad sales deals could be CPRP (Cost per Rating Point) driven instead of ER (Effective Rate) driven. However such a business model will need larger break even periods.

  • TV industry immune to 2012 slowdown

    TV industry immune to 2012 slowdown

    In 2012, the television industry was immune to the slowdown effect. The advertising revenue for the sector has seen double-digit growth and will be even better in 2013.

    FMCG advertising on television continued to be strong. The auto industry advertised more on television. Though the sector didn‘t do well in sales in 2012, several car launches happened and many are due in 2013 as well. The telecom sector has also been hot on television.

    Television continues to be the cheapest medium to advertise in. It also has the advantage of being an accountable medium as it has a regular audience measurement system to reflect viewership for shows and channels. In print you do not know how many people have seen your ads. In a tough situation, the client demands accountability which only television offers. That is why auto shifted budgets from other mediums and moved more towards television.

    Another factor in television‘s favour is that each year millions of new TV sets are added, which is not the case with any other medium.

    All the four major networks – Sony, Star, Zee and Network18 – have done well. The trading levels across genres rose and big properties fared well.

    The key is to be in the top three to four channels in each genre. Then there is nothing to worry about. If you are languishing in the lower rung, then you will not do well.

    Having said that, there is oversupply in some genres. News, for example, is a different ballgame and trading levels are not going up in this genre. The same challenge exists in the kids genre which has an oversupply of GRPs (gross rating points). In regional-languages, the Marathi genre interestingly operates at 40 per cent higher trading levels than Bengali.

    Digitisation will help grow the business. Niche channels have actually grown with digitisation. Pix, for instance, has grown GRPs by 20-30 per cent. Networks, though, will continue to rely heavily on advertising for the next two to three years before the real impact of digitisation is felt.

  • 2012: Fighting for change in the media and ad biz

    2012: Fighting for change in the media and ad biz

    2012 proved to be a year when the broadcasters, media and ad agencies were fighting for change. The year began with the hunt for a TV ratings system that would take care of the changing environment and the launch of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) was announced that would be acceptable to all the stakeholders of the industry.

    Another head turner event came in the form of NDTV filing a case against TAM and its holding companies in the New York Supreme Court. The move opened conversations regarding the reliability of data provided by TAM and saw the industry bodies converge and work in tandem with the ratings agency to improve the state of affairs.

    It was a dull year for media spends as a poor GDP growth rate dampened the market sentiment which ultimately led to the advertisers tightening the purse strings. As a result, the advertising expenditure forecast was downgraded at the half year mark. The festive season also failed to lift the spirits in the ad market.

    Even as the industry was battling ad slowdown, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) came up with its ill-timed ad regulation that had the broadcasters, particularly news channels, up in arms. Trai’s attempt to regulate ad duration on television though could not fructify as Tdsat stayed its implementation till further orders.

    Taking advantage of the wave of creative entrepreneurship that has hit India in the past few years, global media communications conglomerates came shopping to the country. Publicis led the pack with four acquisitions in a year while Dentsu snapped up the prized Taproot.

    Ad slowdown

     -GroupM downgraded India‘s ad expenditure growth to 6.6 per cent in 2012. It revised India‘s advertising expenditure in July 2012 to Rs 355.92 billion, from its January estimate of Rs 373.97 billion.
     -As per the GroupM report for TV, the Telecom category cut down spends substantially in the first half of the year. Financial services were adversely affected by poor market conditions here as elsewhere in the world. Even consumer durables spent less in the first half of 2012 than the prior year period.
    – During the festive season in October, the ad spends were not as anticipated. The slowdown since the beginning of the year did not see any remarkable recovery.

    NDTV v/s TAM

    -The legal dispute between NDTV and TAM Media Research, India‘s sole TV audience measurement agency, speeded up the movement towards the setting up of Barc. Incidentally, this was the first time that an Indian broadcaster went to the court against the ratings agency.
    -On 26 July 2012, New Delhi Television (NDTV) moved the court against TAM, its parent companies Nielsen and Kantar Media Research and senior officials of the companies. The case was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
    – NDTV claimed that TAM is employing an inadequate sampling size for the Indian market, and also of using inadequate security measures to protect its data.The Indian broadcaster also alleged that the lack of security led to an atmosphere of widespread corruption, with different networks bribing sample households to watch them.
    -The NDTV lawsuit in New York against TAM Media spurred the pubcaster to join hands. Prasar Bharati blamed the current television ratings system for not being able to capture Doordarshan‘s audiences in its correct light, despite the pubcaster enjoying the largest reach in the country.
    -Though the allegations were not conclusive, it also led the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) to arrange a meeting with TAM officials on 16 August to understand directly from the ratings agency what the facts (regarding the NDTV lawsuit) were.
    -As a result of the meeting, TAM outlined six key action steps it would take to correct the shortcomings in its current system. These included: appointment of a security officer and agency; expansion in number of meters in the existing 6 top metros; a review by the industry of research processes that determine what TAM reports in its weekly reports; what meter homes are left out of reporting for being data outliners; getting the homes independently audited; faster panel rotation; and an internal audit team to be put in place as soon as possible.
    – WPP and group firms filed for dismissal of lawsuit against them.
    -The final word is yet to come from the court on the validity of NDTV‘s charges.

    BARC

    -Even as the legal discourse continued, the stakeholders were busy shaping up BARC.
    -In March 2012, the IBF, ISA and AAAI announced the launch of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), with IBF holding 60 per cent, and AAAI and ISA equally holding the balance 40 per cent.
    -Government asked IBF, the AAAI and the ISA to ensure adequate representation to Prasar Bharati.
    -Barc formed a three-member technical committee comprising IPG Mediabrands India CEO Shashi Sinha, India TV strategist Paritosh Joshi and Unilever head of CMI South Smita Bhosale.

    Deals dot the landscape

    -The biggest acquisition made in the year was the buyout of creative hothouse Taproot India by Japanese communications major Dentsu.
    -Aegis Media, which was bought by Dentsu, acquired performance marketing and search agency Communicate2.
    -The multinational agencies shopped more for Indian digital firms. WPP’s JWT Singapore acquired 51 per cent stake in Hungama Digital Services.
    -Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett snapped up Indian digital agency Indigo Consulting in April to enhance the ad agency’s digital capacity in India. Continuing with the inorganic growth route, Publicis bought out digital agency Resultrix. And it ended 2012 by gobbling up iStrat and Marketgate.
    -The publishing arm of Bertelsmann AG Gruner + Jahr acquired digital agency Network play in March. Networkplay, in turn, acquired mobile ad network company Seventynine in November.

    A Few Key Movements

    -Vikram Sakhuja, CEO of GroupM for India and South Asia, was appointed as global CEO of Maxus in August. It was the first time that the CEO of Maxus was to be based out of India and it is also the first instance where an Indian has been appointed the global CEO of a media agency.
    -Shashi Sinha appointed IPG Mediabrands India CEO as Lynn de Souza quit as CEO of Lintas Media Group to pursue social entrepreneurship.
    -CVL Srinivas quit Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) as CEO and joined GroupM to succeed Vikram Sakhuja as its South Asia CEO.
    -Punitha Arumugam quit Madison Media to join Google India as Director – Agency Business.

    Ad regulation

    -The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) came out with a consultation paper on ad regulation that capped ad duration at 12 minutes per hour for free-to-air (FTA) channels and six minutes per hour for pay channels.
    – Broadcasters lashed out at Trai for the ‘untimely’ ad regulation amid fear that regulation will have an adverse impact on business models particularly news and sports.
    -Notwithstanding opposition from broadcasters, Trai notified ad regulation at 12 minutes per clock hour, asking broadcasters to maintain a minimum time gap of at least 15 minutes between two consecutive ad breaks and 30 minutes in case of movie channels. Sports channels could air ads only during breaks (eg during half-time or after an over).
    -Aggrieved News Broadcasters Association (NBA) challenged the Trai regulation in Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (Tdsat), which stayed the implementation of ad regulation for five weeks.
    -The sector regulator told Tdsat that it was willing to discuss the ad regulation issue with broadcasters and would look into their grievance.
    -Tdsat directed Trai not to implement the ad regulation till further orders.
    -Trai softened its stance by proposing to delete the clause that required the gap between ads.

  • 2012: The pace of change showed no signs of slowing in India: Peter Hutton FIC Sports SVP

    2012: The pace of change showed no signs of slowing in India: Peter Hutton FIC Sports SVP

    In sport, sometimes you just need to sit back and admire. The great moments do not need analysis, they deserve wonder. The best commentators earn their money by knowing when to say nothing. 

    The year 2012 has been rich in such moments, from the remarkable individual stories of the Olympics to the shared joy in West Indian celebration at the ICC T20. It has seen Dravid, Laxman and Sourav move further into the wings, the remarkable supporting cast stepping aside for Sachin Tendulkar to take his final bow alone, the personification of 20 years of Indian economic transformation.

    Sachin‘s career started in the days when the BCCI paid Doordarshan for the opportunity to show international games between news bulletins. It will end during the new Star TV agreement to pay around Rs 400 million a match for Indian cricket.

    The pace of change shows no signs of slowing in India, where sports rights inflation is increasing for the premium properties. The recent agreement for Premier League rights in the sub-continent dwarves any previous price for non-cricket sports content. The Diwali night gamble on the next three seasons of the Premier League means the major European football rights are now signed up for the next few years (the Premier League and the FA Cup, Spain’s La Liga and Italy’s Serie A all with ESPN/Star, the Champions League and English Championship with Ten, the Bundesliga with Neo). The next football battle ground for the Indian broadcasters will be for FIFA 2014, the world cup in Brazil still looking for an Indian home.

    In cricket, the major rights have also been locked away with the established broadcasters, though four of the full member cricket boards will come into play in 2013. Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and New Zealand will all look for new worldwide deals in the next 12 months in the hope of sizable increases from the Indian market. The trend is for long term deals these days, Ten’s 8-year renewal with the West Indies board having followed on from similar long term renewals by ESPN/Star with England and Australia, and Ten with South Africa and Zimbabwe. With content largely secured for India’s sports broadcasters, now the attention will turn to how to maximise the return on such long term investments and how best to operate in the new Indian digital legislative framework.

    One development of note has been the investment in the new Star Sports website, with its ability to appreciate the days cricket video in multiple forms and encourage viewership “on the move”. This sort of initiative is changing the way that sport is being seen around the world and it is fascinating to see so many people in my new home in Singapore watching streams of sports content on tablets and mobiles as they travel to work. The numbers of illegal streams now available is a long term threat to the traditional broadcaster/rights holder model that funds sport everywhere. For broadcasters to support an official version is a wise investment in personal choice.

    London 2012 was a great experience for all involved, a showcase for Britain but also for some of India’s unsung sporting talent. The history making deal signed by Manu Sawhney at ESPN/Star that allowed multiple channel coverage of the Games for the first time in Asia was a huge step forward for the coverage of multi-sport events in the sub-continent. The lesson of the Games was that even three channels of coverage in India wasn’t enough and left viewers complaining that they were missing live events. Hopefully by 2016 we’ll reach the sort of 10 channel coverage available elsewhere in Asia. (In the UK the BBC had over 20 channels just on the Olympics !)

    At the end of the year, the return of India-Pakistan cricket deserves praise for all concerned with the delicate negotiations at the boards and the respective Governments. The intensity of the occasions, well scheduled over the holiday period, have been a perfectly timed reminder of all that’s good about cricket, with new stars emerging and plenty to enjoy.

    2012 was also the year of some sad departures. The Bangalore footballer Venkatesh, who died on the pitch in India shortly after the Premier League’s Fabrice Muamba was saved in England thanks to excellent medical support. It also saw the passing of two of cricket’s most familiar voices in Tony Grieg and Christopher Martin Jenkins. The voices couldn’t have been more different, but they provided the sound track to some of cricket’s greatest moments. “CMJ” provided me with generous encouragement as a young writer, “Griegy” never failed to entertain and provided hours of stories, particularly on World Series Cricket where his pride on having shaken up the cricket establishment always shone through. Neither needs a long tribute, the memories of them will live on.