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Category: Specials

  • Community Radio – waiting to take off

    Community Radio – waiting to take off

    Community radio is the latest addition the FM radio bandwagon in the country. With the great radio story just beginning to happen this year, it’s not surprising to find these avenues opening up. But community radio is a non profit, non commercial version of the FM radio sector.

    With government policies becoming open and procedures getting simplified, Community Radio (CR) is getting pretty popular; not in terms of the number of radio stations opened, but in terms of the interest it has generated among people. The more interested parties of course, are the universities and educational institutes as they have been getting licenses at short notice. Anna University’s FM venture, Anna FM in chennai was the first of its kind of CRS to start, but not many have been able to replicate its success story.

    2007, however, was a very eventful year in terms of the licenses granted. The likes of Mumbai univeristy, Delhi univeristy and others have been the leading institutions to procure these CRS licenses. Delhi university CRS has already gone on air in 2007 and Mumbai university’s own radio station should go live in early 2008.

    But the basic objective of CRS should be understood. With the advent of private FM radio channels, entertainment and radio have become synonymous with films and youth. But CRS can be a very interesting change or option in terms of FM broadcasting. If private radio is all about fun and entertainment, CRs can offer some infotainment via fun programmes tackling various acadmeic and social topics.

    Sounds vague, but if the CRS can be a professional radio run by amateurs, then the basic target is achieved. That’s precisely what the CRS holders need to do in 2008.

    Technology too is becoming cheaper and easily available. So, someone can easily start a CRS for as low as Rs 10 lakh. This can include some very good equipment which will help the operators to package the CRS programming in a very FM and private radio-like fashion. This is the need of the hour and can be surely achieved.

    Also, it becomes a very healthy and attractive sector for service providers as you need many players, if the number of CRS in country has to reach 500 in the coming years. A very good volume business oppurtunity indeed.

    Even the UN has made plans to assist the building of various CRs across the country as a part of its Millenium Development goals.
    As for CR, like every coin, it has two sides to the story.

    On the flip side, people have not yet understood the basic idea of starting a CRS. It does not imply just running a station for the sake of it, neither does it mean being revolutionary with your own radio. It’s also not about being a drag, serious type of radio.

    A CRS can be a very important link for youngsters and amateurs alike. If the hobbyist can provide good topics, amateurs can train themselves for a good radio career while working at a CRS. You need to have infotainment programmes to attract people. With the government allowing a 100W transmitter, you can easily cover an area of about 40 odd km, a pretty big area to operate in. Also, with the government allowing five minutes per hour as commercial time, the main headache of sustaining a CRS disappears. If your CRS can be innovative and intelligent, a private radio player in your area might also be interested in helping you generate revenue on a sharing basis. I see no harm in this.

    Another problem is, some people think of CRS as a completely non profit idea which should not earn money. But, I guess you need money to at least survive and there is nothing as a free dinner in life any more.

    If we are reading this article, it’s to get something in return, right !
    We should all look at the CRS as a great oppurtunity to learn new tricks in radio, train yourself to be a future radio broadcaster and make FM radio a useful medium for all in all ways.

    2007 was really a mind opener for the CRS sector, and I sincerely hope that 2008 will soon set up decent examples of innovative and infotainment led CRS in the country.

  • 2007: Radio powers ahead-Radio Mirchi CEO Prashant Panday

    2007: Radio powers ahead-Radio Mirchi CEO Prashant Panday

    Its an amazing feeling when you sit back at the end of the year and think of what ACTUALLY happened during the year and in most cases, the stories are of incrementalism. In the case of radio fortunately, there’s a much more substantial story to write home about!

     

    For starters, radio spread out across the country. From just about 15 cities covered by private FM on 1 January, 2007, we have more than 50 towns boasting of private FM across the country today. This is on account of the roll-outs of the new stations that were auctioned under phase II of the radio reforms in Jan 2006. Its been a long wait, but finally, the radio networks have arrived! And there is a medium today that challenges the national coverage that satellite TV hitherto offered exclusively.

     

    Then there is the fairly robust growth of radio advertising revenues to write about. I would only call it “fairly robust” and not “terrific” (an adjective I am prone to use every now and then!) simply because while the growth has been in excess of 50 per cent for the second year running, the fact is that on the small base that radio had/has, a century would have been nicer! Nevertheless, two years of good growth, and its clear no advertiser/agency planner worth his basic MBA degree is asking questions like “Radio? What’s that?” or “But you charge more than even MTV”!!

     

    Yes, radio rates have indeed gone past MTV’s. In fact very substantially. Today the larger radio players (City, Mirchi) charge more for Mumbai or Delhi individually than MTV charges nationally. But are the prices commensurate with what they deliver? No way and that’s what makes the story for 2008 (You will realise I am already preparing the piece for next year’s story!). In terms of the importance of the medium, radio is inching closer and closer to TV. For eg., Mirchi alone gives more reach (and now the diary (RAM – though only 17per cent accurate) shows that it delivers more GRPs too!) than most TV channels. And the advertiser realises that and has started to pay us accordingly. Today, the average price for the Mirchi network is of the order of Rs 12,000 per 10 seconds with premium schedules going upwards of Rs 15,000. Same question again: Commensurate with what we deliver? No way!

     

    Its interesting how radio truly has reflected the growth in the Indian economy itself. The largest segments of advertisers on radio are media and entertainment, telecom, retail, auto and of course the all-time-favorite FMCG (but with declining importance).

     

    Here-in also lies the prognosis for 2008. Radio is bound to grow – When businesses are spreading their wings into the mini-metros and smaller towns, the primary medium for communications is indeed radio! As brands seek more touch-points for their brands at local levels, the ONLY medium really is radio (adding strength to an activation exercise). When advertisers need consumers to respond to their products, they will have no where to go but radio. When IPOs market themselves, and target certain key but dispersed markets (Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Calcutta, Mumbai), the only real medium to hammer home the reminders is radio. 2008 surely looks like a good year for radio!

     

    In summary, the year 2007 reflects the coming of age of radio. The romance has started. The first date has happened. Now the real action should be unfolding. Hopefully, this will a happy story and not a Balaji tearjerker!!

  • FM radio – Abuzz with activity

    The floodgates opened in 2007.

    The year gone by was a time when years of hard work and patience finally paid off for the radio industry in India. It was a year of intense competition, aggressive marketing and marginal creativity as private FM finally flowered in metros as well as tiny towns throughout the nation.

    Even though advertising crept up only slowly, and the government continued to pussyfoot around the issue of allowing news and current affairs on private radio, the mood stayed upbeat throughout the radio industry.
    With phase II of FM opening up the industry for private players, there was no holding back.

    Consider these figures. In 2006, 26 private FM stations were operationalised. In contrast, AIR saw ten FM stations operationalised in 2004 and an equal number in 2005, with just two in 2006.

    By October 2007, a total of 281 FM channels include 161 of All India Radio and 120 privately owned channels were operational.

    By the year end, there was a scramble among operators to put up stations in the 91 cities for which licenses had been doled out – held up in many places by the government’s delay in activating the transmission towers. It was no mean task. Entities like Big FM and Sun’s SFM have a quota of 45 stations each to put up, Mirchi has 32 and Bhaskar, the late entrant hurried to put up 17 stations on air. Most have reached their targets, some like BAG Films’ Dhamaal is yet to launch in four cities, and India Today’s Meow has five more cities in its kitty.

    But more than these numbers, it was programming and marketing of stations that were put up in a hurry that hogged the limelight. A trove of radio jockeys was unearthed from various corners of the country (some poached, a lot honed) to give that much needed edge to the programming, while contests and on ground events (particularly in the small towns) jostled for listener attention.

    The core content, despite the operators’ insistence to the contrary, stayed what the listener apparently wanted the most – Bollywood music.

    Music all the way
    They gave it their own tags – superhit music, hot adult contemporary music, latest hits – but the fact remained that recent Bollywood music played on most stations throughout the day, with experiments like western music and ‘old’ tracks relegated to the very early mornings or the very late nights.

    Very few, like Radio Indigo and Fever played differential western music and could attract only niche audiences, and fewer like Meow FM decided to take the ‘talk’ format and address the female audience directly. While Meow claimed that it had managed to hook the feminine ears in both Delhi and Kolkata, the other stations played safe and stuck to the ‘less talk, more music’ formula.

    The innovations came in other forms – Big FM devised a 100 chartbuster formula, to keep playing the ‘most wanted’ music all the time, while Radio One went for the 20 20 format to keep the elusive listener hooked to a show. “The 20 minute format works on the principle that if a listener is listening to an average time of 20 minutes, the programming mix is designed to achieve that,” officials averred, when the format launched in June.

    Radio City amplified its outlook with the Whatte Fun concept, that started with a music video and spun across programming to become a microsite of its own, which will probably have a larger life of its own in 2008. Big FM’s new digital division will be another entity to watch out for in 2008; launched in the last part of ’07, it began small with a podcast of its Bangalore station but promises a lot in the digital space.

    It was the myriad contests that remained the nectar to attract the bees, however. In the absence of a regular audience tracking methodology till October end, when TAM’s Radio Audience Measurement came into being, contests and big prizes stayed the carrots with which stations enticed listeners, who in the absence of differential programming, exhibited no real station loyalty.

    CSR also remained a strong buzz word on radio – from distributing raincoats to traffic police paying tribute to Kargil martyrs , aiding the flood hit in Rajkot to spreading AIDS awareness among truck drivers, the initiative also became a good on ground activity to popularise the stations.

    ‘Ad’ding up the revenues
    Overall radio advertising revenue, that was at Rs 3180 million in 2005, was expected to touch around Rs 6800 million this year, a figure that would still be around six per cent of the total ad pie.

    Advertisers are slowly but steadily beginning to view radio as a medium that can reach out to people, and need no more be a supporting medium. As industry veterans had predicted, the presence of more stations, drove listenership which fetched more ads too.

    Players like Big FM introduced uniform rate cards for advertisers in all its stations across India, to bring in rate transparency. Elsewhere, companies like MBPL offer sales support to Gwalior’s ‘Suno Lemon’, while a Radio Mirchi managed Radio Ghupshup’s national ad sales.

    Radio itself used other media aggressively to advertise itself, with radio stations’ advertising on TV tripling in one year.

    A measure of success
    After a long stint of the lone Indian Listenership Track of the MRUC that would release data in phases through the year, TAM finally brought out its data in the form of the Radio Audience Measurement by the end of October. While a majority of the stations contributed to the service, the initial findings released by RAM (operational only in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore with Kolkata on the cards) created a tizzy of sorts in the industry with stations staking claim to numero uno positions in either reach, listenership or in respective TGs. A few months down the line, the RAM data should help the industry find its feet, and tailor programming and marketing to suit the market it addresses.

    All India Radio
    The reign of the unchallenged state sponsored monarch was challenged in a big way in 2007, but some of the RAM figures indicate that AIR’s own FM, operational even in border areas where terrrestrial reach is a problem, continues to hold its own. AIR also continues to enjoy a monopoly on news and current affairs aes well as live cricket commentary, an area that gives it a huge edge over private FM competitors. The other player in the satellite space, Worldspace Radio, did not fare much better, despite innovations like a tie up with MSN India for streaming its content online.

    Community radio, 26 stations of which became operational this year, should become a force to reckon with this year. The government is also considering the proposed 5,000 licenses it plans to issue to be divided into sectors, such as farming community, fishing community, women and children and others, and issue the licenses accordingly.

    At present 26 stations, all by educational institutions are using community radio.

    Code of conduct
    While the I and B ministry said there would no separate regulatory authority for FM stations other than the Broadcast Regulatory Authority of India conceived in the proposed Broadcast Regulatory Services Bill, the Association of Radio Operators of India (AROI) formed an advisory committee for the creation of a self-regulatory Content Code for private FM radio broadcasting.

    The year wasn’t without its share of controversy. Uninhibited chatter by radio jockeys turned into a crisis of sorts when the north east erupted over a wayward comment on the Indian Idol winner. The case still hangs fire.

    Upward swing
    Needless to say, the sudden spurt of FM brought with it a fresh wave of young listeners, a wave aided in no small measure by the increasing reach of the mobile phone, which came loaded with the FM features. Over 85 per cent of radio listenership in metros by the end of the year happened on the move. The figures will only go up this year. Whether the curve is matched by an increased burst of creativity now remains to be seen.

  • ‘Television has brought life back to many sports that were waning on account of declining viewership’

    ‘Television has brought life back to many sports that were waning on account of declining viewership’

    Sports in India today is no longer a leisure activity to be played or watched at one’s own convenience.

    With an increase in exposure through television as well as new technologies like the internet and the mobility space, sports has become a full fledged industry in its own right. This trend is reflected in increasing number of corporate organisations who have realised that the target audience for their product/services are better reached through the medium of sports – the passion of a sports fan today is therefore being tapped in newer ways with every passing day.

    So much so that even non-conventional businesses and companies with smaller pockets are increasingly looking at leveraging opportunities with sports as a medium to further their business goals.

    Though cricket still remains the No.1 sport in India, in recent times, there has been growing interest in non-cricket sports like hockey, soccer, tennis and golf, which has provided options for corporates to find out which sport resonates with their target audience. Looking at the sheer numbers, there has been a significant rise in sponsorships and advertising across all the sporting disciplines.

    As the sports fan becomes more discerning, the consumption pattern of sport is also changing – today’s fan is not happy with whatever is on offer.

    This has seen the growth of interactive broadcasting, quality opinions on air and innovative features which add more impact to the event coverage. This trend is healthy and I expect that in the years to come this will lead to a more specialist approach catering to the individual fan.

    Another heartening fact is that national level tournaments in non-cricket sports are also gaining in stature with increased viewership, leading to more sponsors and advertisers. Events like the Premier Hockey League (PHL), which is now in its fourth edition, have made a mark not just as a quality national event but also garnered sufficient international interest through its high quality offering of entertaining, end-to-end hockey. I believe the years to come will be even more exciting.

    Where does India stand in the global sports business, and where are we headed?

    To my mind, while we have indeed come a long way, India is still a small player compared to countries like the USA, China and West European nations, in terms of global size. But the potential has been clearly recognised and with every passing day the outlook seems brighter.

    To reach the next level, we need to get international sporting events and tournaments like Commonwealth Games and Men’s Hockey World Cup staged in India. This will not only boost viewership but also unlock the vast marketing potential to international sponsors.

    This will help the business grow to the next level. Such events will also provide a further boost to market India as a tourist destination. I am confident about the future – and I think if we can groom the available talent in non-cricket disciplines and create a few home grown superstars in basketball, soccer, tennis and golf over the next few years, there is no reason for India not to catch up with the rest of the world.

    Another factor that has impacted sports and sports media is the Indian economy. It has been booming over the past few years and its ripple effect is being felt in every industry, including sports. With more money flowing in and increased purchasing power leading to more spends, sports has also been cashing in a big way.

    Over the last decade, television has especially influenced the growth of the business of sports. It ensures greater reach across the country, more eyeballs / viewership per match, and, thereby, larger sponsor interest. This has also helped create the base for a host of affiliated businesses to thrive as well sports marketing agencies, celebrity management firms, et al.

    But, more than anything else, what seems most important to me is that television has brought life back to many sports that were waning on account of declining viewership. It has helped provide a stage for the enormous talent that exists in this country of more than a billion people – and hopefully this will help create many more Sania Mirzas and Vishwanathan Anands in the future.

  • Mobile was ringing for Radio Advertising in 2007

    Mobile was ringing for Radio Advertising in 2007

    The curtains have fallen on 2007, the all important data is also out — that of the Top 10 categories of advertisers on television, print and radio; and their growth in ad spends in 2007 as compared to 2006, as estimated by AdEx India.
     
    Product
    2007* (Jan-Nov ’07)
    Rank Product Group Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 Cellular Phone Service 4,873
    2 Properties/Real Estates 4,260
    3 TV Channel Promotions 3,900
    4 Independent Retailers 3,565
    5 Internet/SMS Service 2,145
    6 Publications/Books 2,130
    7 Social Advertisements 2,021
    8 Life Insurance 1,654
    9 Jewellery 1,456
    10 Cars/Jeeps 1,236
     
    2006…
    Rank Product Group Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 TV Channel Promotions 2,866
    2 Properties/Real Estates 1,517
    3 Cellular Phone Service 1,408
    4 Independent Retailers 925
    5 Publications/Books 732
    6 Jewellery 680
    7 Mutual Funds 627
    8 Life Insurance 523
    9 Biscuits 479
    10 Internet/SMS Service 378
     

    ————————————****———————————-

     
    Advertisers
    2007* (Jan-Nov ’07)
    Rank Advertisers Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 Reliance Communications Ltd 2,188
    2 Bharti Airtel Ltd 977
    3 Ministry Of Health & Family Welfare 922
    4 Hindustan Unilever Ltd 916
    5 Zapak Digital Entertainment Ltd 687
    6 Coca Cola India Ltd 665
    7 Life Insurance Corporation Of India 643
    8 MTNL 608
    9 ITC Ltd 582
    10 Maruti Suzuki Ltd 575
     
    2006…
    Rank Advertisers Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 Hindustan Unilever Ltd 1,376
    2 MTNL 394
    3 Reliance Communications Ltd 390
    4 Bharti Airtel Ltd 326
    5 GTM Builders & Promoters 307
    6 Life Insurance Corporation Of India 278
    7 Bhawani Textiles 251
    8 Maruti Suzuki Ltd 207
    9 Hutchison Essar Telecom Ltd 200
    10 Prince Pharma 192
     

    ————————————****———————————-

     
    Brands
    2007* (Jan-Nov ’07)
    Rank Brands Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 Reliance Mobile 2,142
    2 www.zapak.com 603
    3 Tata Sky 534
    4 Reliance General Insurance 501
    5 Ministry Of Health & Family Welfare 488
    6 National Rural Health Mission 422
    7 Airtel Cellular Phone Service 361
    8 Reliance Life Insurance 340
    9 Big Bazaar 331
    10 Quick Heal Anti Virus Software 316
     
    2006…
    Rank Brands Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 GTM Jewellery Mart 307
    2 Reliance Mobile 290
    3 Dollar Club 229
    4 Tata Sky 167
    5 Airtel Cellular Phone Service 167
    6 Pan Parag Pan Masala 144
    7 M-Tech Developers 139
    8 Pogo Potato Chips 126
    9 UTI Mutual Fund 124
    10 Hutch Cellular Phone Service 122
     
    ————————————****———————————-
     
     
     
     
    Source: AdEx India – A Division of TAM Media Research Bitmap

    Media: TV + Print + Radio
    Period: Year 2006 & 2007 (Jan – Nov’07)
    Note: Ranking based on ad volumes (secondages) in thousands

  • Television Advertising from January-November 2007

    Television Advertising from January-November 2007

    Count of Advertisers and Brands.
     

    Count of new programmes on different channel genres

    • General entertainment channels recorded the maximum launch of new programmes to hold on its viewers, followed by news channels.

    Categories with maximum new launches.
     
     
    • Interestingly, the evergreen sectors ‘educational institutions’ and ‘real estates’ registered the highest number of brand new launches on TV, to increase their visibility during January-November 2007.

    Exclusive advertisers on TV.
     
     
    • Exclusive advertisers on TV accounts for nearly 40 per cent of total advertisers’ pie.

    Consumer is the king.
     
     

    New launches on TV

    • Among all brands advertised on TV half of them were new brands.
    • Home Shop 18 took the top most slot of new brands advertised.
    • Five of the brands under ‘Personal Care’ made it to the top ten slots.

    The Biggies sponsor programmes.
     
     

    Top programme sponsors

    • Programme on telly do hold on the viewers and the big daddy seems to cash in on this.
      HUL, Coca Cola and L’Oreal India were the top three advertisers with maximum share of Promo Tag.
     

    (Analysis from AdEx India – A Division of TAM Media Research)

  • Education was big on Print advertising in 2007

    Education was big on Print advertising in 2007

    The curtains have fallen on 2007, the all important data is also out — that of the Top 10 categories of advertisers on television, print and radio and their growth in ad spends in 2007 as compared to 2006, as estimated by AdEx India.

     
     
    Product
    2007* (Jan-Nov ’07)
    Rank Product Group Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 Educational Institutions 14,123
    2 Properties/Real Estates 5,992
    3 Corporate/Brand Image 5,974
    4 Independent Retailers 5,770
    5 Cars/Jeeps 5,495
    6 Cellular Phone Service 3,467
    7 Two Wheelers 3,441
    8 Events 2,948
    9 Coaching Centre/Competitive Exam 2,759
    10 Hospital/Clinics 2,709
     
    2006…
    Rank Product Group Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 Educational Institutions 13,395
    2 Properties/Real Estates 6,862
    3 Corporate/Brand Image 6,517
    4 Cars/Jeeps 5,523
    5 Independent Retailers 5,348
    6 Two Wheelers 5,251
    7 Social Advertisements 4,158
    8 Cellular Phone Service 3,838
    9 Events 3,421
    10 Travel & Tourism 3,223
     

    ————————————****———————————-

     
    Advertisers
    2007* (Jan-Nov ’07)
    Rank Advertisers Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 Maruti Suzuki Ltd 2,209
    2 LG Electronics India Ltd 1,551
    3 Tata Motors Ltd 1,192
    4 Nokia Corporation 1,192
    5 BSNL 1,181
    6 Reliance Communications Ltd 1,089
    7 Planman Consultant India Pvt Ltd 1,073
    8 Hewlett Packard India Ltd 1,072
    9 Bajaj Auto Ltd 931
    10 Hero Honda Motors Ltd 894
     
    2006…
    Rank Advertisers Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 Maruti Suzuki Ltd 1,777
    2 Bajaj Auto Ltd 1,670
    3 Tata Motors Ltd 1,565
    4 Hewlett Packard India Ltd 1,530
    5 Reliance Communications Ltd 1,524
    6 Hero Honda Motors Ltd 1,394
    7 LG Electronics India Ltd 1,265
    8 TVS Motor Company 1,146
    9 BSNL 1,049
    10 Planman Consultant India Pvt Ltd 945
     

    ————————————****———————————-

     
    Brands
    2007* (Jan-Nov ’07)
    Rank Brands Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 IIPM (The Indian Institute Of Planning and Management) 974
    2 Tata Sky 803
    3 Range of Maruti Car 642
    4 Reliance Mobile Prepaid 551
    5 Maruti Suzuki Zen Estilo 515
    6 Royal Government Of Bhutan Lotteries 500
    7 Onida Pure Flat 382
    8 Big Bazaar 370
    9 LG Group (Electronics) 363
    10 Bajaj Platina 330
     
    2006…
    Rank Brands Ad volumes (in ‘000)
    1 IIPM (The Indian Institute Of Planning and Management) 883
    2 Ministry Of Health & Family Welfare 860
    3 Reliance Mobile 810
    4 TVS Star City 730
    5 Range of Maruti Car 664
    6 Royal Government Of Bhutan Lotteries 648
    7 Sikkim/Royal Government Of Bhutan 565
    8 Hero Honda Motorcycles 516
    9 Range of Bajaj Motorcycle 462
    10 IncredibleIndia 447
     
    ————————————****———————————-
     
     
     
     

    Period: Year 2006 & 2007 (Jan – Nov’07)

    Note: Ranking based on ad volumes (Col*Cm) in thousands

    Source: AdEx India – A Division of TAM Media Research Bitmap

  • Innovation the mantra in a time of increasing fragmentation

    Before embarking on a discussion about the marketing strategies used by Indian TV channels in 2007, it will be worthwhile to see what the picture could be in a few years.

    A recent report says that India will have 700 TV channels by the end of 2009. “Broadcasters will be forced to slash advertising rates and spend heavily on improving technology to ensure their channels are carried into homes, or face the prospect of being swallowed up by rivals,” the report adds.

    In fact, TV advertising was at its peak during the third quarter of 2007, with the food and beverages sector leading with 15 per cent share of overall TV advertising. The medium also saw a 33 per cent increase in volumes during January-September 2007, over the corresponding period the previous year.

    For sure, this predicted crossfire from newly launching TV channels has already brought about a number of changes in the marketing strategies of the channels. Generally speaking, these changes or trends may be summarized as follows:

    1. Increased fragmentation due to more channels.
    2. More money going into mobile marketing (SMS) stealing share from traditional media.
    3. Increased use of online social marketing strategies – Orkut, MySpace.

    SMS voting in TV shows is not a new phenomenon. Based on the premise that if a person can afford a mobile phone, s/he can surely be a potential voter, channels encourage viewers to remotely participate in the shows and support their favourite contestants.

    The numbers speak for themselves. 2005 was a record year when more than 350 million messages and phone calls were zapped on account of television. With the number of singing and dancing and acting competitions on TV channels increasing every month, and adding sms activity by the news channels, the number of messages sent this year is estimated to be in the region of 750 million.

    Speaking of new channels, it is in the dominant general entertainment genre, whose Hindi-language soaps and movies corner about 40 per cent of all TV ad revenues, where the most serious action is.

    One thing, therefore that is certain, is that the Indian television industry is no longer run by a few monopolies. Star India will face new launches from rival Zee Entertainment Enterprises as well as from NDTV, Viacom 18, INX Media and who knows who else.

    The Star Network has shown considerable ingenuity in their marketing initiatives. As Star Network marketing head Prem Kamath said, “In order to target a wider section of audience, we shifted focus to smaller towns and organized ground events. Since cricket has a unifying influence on the large bulk of Indian populace, we used cricket-centric programmes to attract a greater viewership and will build on our strengths next year.”

    Indeed, this year cricket has been among the more widely used means of attracting audiences for a number of channels. For example, INX News has roped in Sourav Ganguly as their brand ambassador. INX Media founder and CEO Indrani Mukerjea says, “Sourav is one of the most loved stars from India’s collective passion, cricket. We are proud that Sourav, too, has been keen to be associated with the INX Network.” INX News will be launching an English news channel NewsX in early 2008.

    In a recent interview, INX Media group director, brand and communications, Anthony Pettifer told indiantelevision.com that their marketing campaigns were chiefly aimed at “creating a buzz and a permanent platform as well as entertaining the target audience”. “Since we started from ground zero, we needed a logo and a motto to carve a niche in the mass market of Hindi GEC. Our original logo ‘9X,’ with the ‘X’ in eye-catching orange, has proved to be hugely successful, while our motto ‘9 times more entertainment’ is in complete accord with the logo. To dramatize our positioning, we made sure that our marketing initiatives incorporated two elements of Indian life – cricket and Bollywood. We strategically planned our channel’s launch with the release of Om Shanti Om and made use of cinema screens as a vehicle for communication. To be a leader from day one, we also organized innovative ground activities in retail malls across Mumbai and Delhi,” he added.

    There was of course Sony Entertainment Television (SET India), which had its spell of cricket action with its telecast of ICC Cricket World Cup in March. That India’s early exit skewered Sony’s plans was of course a beyond everyone’s control.

    Commenting on his channel’s marketing strategies, SET India executive vice-president, sales and revenue management Rohit Gupta says, “Our programming has been tailored to cater to a young target audience belonging to the 15-35 age group. This year, we have been successful in offering a unique content. Amber Dhara, for example, is a first-of-its-kind serial that tells the story of two conjoined sisters; no other TV channels have ever dared to deal with this theme. We are also committed to offering viewers a package of Hindi blockbusters on weekends.” To revive SAB TV’s flagging fortunes, the channel has introduced 10 new shows in the last two months. Moreover, the channel has organized a number of ground events to promote its hugely successful Indian Idol 2007. Asked about the channel’s innovations in the field of marketing, pat replied Gupta, “We pioneered the concept of client servicing in the TV industry.

    Zee TV is confident that newer marketing initiatives will take the channel even higher. Indeed, with ingenious marketing strategies, Zee’s newest scion Zee Next organised a number of innovative on-ground activities. “Our outdoor activities have been a great success. We plan to build on our strengths in accordance with the viewers’ response,” says Zee Next marketing head Tarun Mehra.

    However, media experts opine that newcomers like NDTV Imagine and INX Media are serious contenders as well, and needless to say, with the launch of Zee Next, Zee TV is faced with an unavoidable competition with itself.

    The road ahead may be exciting and promising for those who dare to compete in the Hindi GEC space, but it sure is going to get tougher and rougher than ever before. Marketing will be as much about innovating on the run as about using time tested strategies.

  • Marching to a new tune

    Make no mistake about it, 2007 was a b-a-a-a-d year for the industry.

    That’s no doomsayer sounding the deathknell for the music industry, but one of the opening remarks of a series of year end insights put out on MTV.com. Globally, the biggies of the music industry have had to contend with dipping physical sales graphs, even as the indies and sharp eyed innovators in the digital world have been snapping up the advantages offered by the Internet, live performances and merchandise.

    The low tide hit Indian shores too in 2007. Internet downloads however did not hit the Indian industry as hard as did the rapidly growing mobile phone industry, where music entertainment was one of the prime drivers of the value added services industry here. FM, which boomed this year, was one of the biggest applications utilised over the mobile phone, aided in no small measure by scaled down prices for FM enabled mobile phones.

    Physical sales plummet…
    Indians purchased more music on their mobile phones than they did physical music products like CDs and cassettes in 2007, says a Soundbuzz report. Mobile music products, in fact, will be purchased nine times more often than physical within the next 18-24 months, the report adds. One doesn’t need to look far for the reason. The region is experiencing an exploding mobile market, virtually dominated by consumers under the age of 30 who are generating and sharing content on a spectrum ranging from pure entertainment, to self projection, to self expression and self actualization.

    While experts within the industry differed on the quantum of mobile music sold during the year, claiming that it could not have surpassed the Rs 600 crore worth of physical sales, most agreed that India is now part of the Asian juggernaut – 50 per cent of all music purchases in Asia in 2006 were digital – online or mobile, and the figures only spiralled in 2007.

    Hardly surprising, considering industry estimates that in the next 12 months, 12 per cent of the world’s population will comprise of young singles in Asia who will command a purchasing power of about US$150 billion.

    The mobile industry taps into music to grow
    Music in 2007 became one of the key value adds that helped the mobile phone industry to grow.

    By the end of July 2007, India had 192.98 million wireless subscribers, a number expected to grow to 250 million handsets by the year end. As if the rapid penetration of the mobile in the country wasn’t enough, global companies like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Samsung strove neck-to-neck to come up with handsets loaded with FM radios, MP3 players and a good memory capacity.

    Today, around 35 per cent of their Indian handset products feature downloadable music applications and Sony’s Walkman phone accounts for 65 per cent of total revenues. Sony is also toying with expanding its chain of Expression Stores, which feature phones and music download stations.

    Nokia too set up college sponsorship deals and collaborated with music companies to buy the rights for free downloadable songs on some of their handsets to encourage the use of digital music. Some of Nokia’s N-series handsets, with a 3,000 song capacity, offer 100 preloaded songs free; just to make a mark, and money of course, in this segment. Most of the major handset makers have tie-ups with music content sites such as Soundbuzz.com and OnMobile.com as well as revenue-sharing deals with local telcos and music companies.

    VAS – the big deal
    Mobile value added services (VAS) in India stood at Rs 2850 crore at the end of 2006, and according to a IAMAI and IMRB study, by end 2007 it stands at nearly Rs 4560 crore, a growth of 60 per cent. Ringtone downloads contribute over 35 per cent of the whole. These comprise the spectrum of mono and polyphonic ringtones, apart from caller ring back tones, true tones – all of which borrow heavily from either Bollywood, devotional or regional music.

    The innovations
    While the industry lamented the downward trend in sales, labels continued to innovate, expand and diversify, tapping into newer arenas.

    Companies like Saregama introduced mobitune cards for ringtones, a pilot project across Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, for music downloads at Nokia outlets. The company said there were 8000 music downloads against 4000 handsets sold at the 25 Nokia outlets during the trial period.

    Companies also tried to expand by signing exclusive deals with mobile operators and others in this segment, with everyone realising that five years down the line, this segment will be a very important source of income and revenue.

    Companies like T-Series and Yash Raj turned out to be key players in the digital music segment, with Yashraj beginning to offer music downloads online. Other music labels like Saregama also launched its own online music store. Others may follow suit in the coming year, although the domestic market for net downloads is still abysmal.
    Regardless of the discovery of new artistes and tuneful Bollywood compositions that made their mark in 2007 – compilations of old Bollywood music continued to contribute significantly to companies’ bottomline. 2008 should see the witness the continued slow but steady rise of spiritual music, which many leading labels tried their hand at.

    The new launches
    Despite sluggish revenues, the industry perceived enough to launch some new labels. Reliance’s Big Music and Home Entertainment was the first off the block early this year. Starting off with Bollywood music, Big Music now plans to reach into regional music in a big way next year. Regional music will also be the focus of Times Music’s new label, Junglee music that launched at the fag end of the year with the music of Nadiadwala’s Welcome. After a fallout with Big, UTV decided to go ahead and launch its own music label for its forthcoming production, Jodhaa Akbar.

    Piracy – the demon’s talons refuse to get trimmed
    Pirated music CDs and illegal Net downloads apart, mobile chip piracy became the latest demon to haunt the Indian music industry. The Indian Music Industry estimates that the size of the music market on mobile phones is around Rs four billion, including products like ring tones – monophonic and polyphonic; True Tones; Ring back Tones; Full song mobile downloads; Music videos.

    Considering royalty, for the music industry, on products like full songs download at approximately Rs five per download and assuming one illegal transfer per phone per month, the loss amounts to Rs 12.5 million per month, says the IMI. Digitized music can be easily copied from any storage device like computer hard disc or USB drive, mobile phone with stored music etc. into the built in memory of a mobile phone or on memory cards or chips which can be further inserted into other mobile phones.

    Individual companies like Shemaroo continued their own campaign against piracy, raiding illegal CD burning outfits and bringing culprits to book with the help of the police. The Phonographic Performance Limited, the licensing wing of the IMI, also did its bit by launching awareness campaigns about the need to procure licenses to play music at events and venues.

    India – the new destination
    The number of international artistes wanting to perform live in India continues to grow. Nelly Furtado kicked off the year’s musical proceedings by performing at the Nokia New Year’s Night eve in Mumbai. Shortly thereafter, Shakira, Aerosmith, Beyonce, 50 Cent, Iron Maiden, America and the Scorpions, among others, performed to packed crowds in venues as diverse as Shillong and Chennai. Obviously, the music lovers’ demand here is huge – Iron Maiden will start their ’08 world tour with a performance in Mumbai.

    The new tunes in ’08
    Globally, music delivered to mobile phones via operators’ networks (mobile music) will jump from the current 13 per cent of global recorded music retail value to 30 per cent by 2011.

    “Looking to emerging markets, mobile could become the number one platform for music, where packaged CDs haven’t gained traction due to piracy and lack of hardware ownership,” says a recently released report by Understanding & Solutions.

    Experts say that in India, ringtones which are the dominant digital format, will continue to remain so till 2009. Mobile music growth will however be fuelled by additional formats, including ringback tones, caller id tones plus full track audio adn video downloads. These forms of mobile music will grow dramatically to achieve 3.9 billion USD in sales in Asia by 2009, up from 210 mn USD in 2005. Online sales will remain relatively static in the coming three years, point out experts.

    Regional could well be the new flavour for music labels, that want to tap the huge interiors. They could well be wary of artistes and music directors, who are slowly taking the production route themselves – turning producers or launching their music directly on the Internet a la Radiohead. As technolgy advances by leaps and bounds, the sky’s the limit for the creators of music in the country.

  • ‘TV established its rightful claim, as the medium for the nation’

    ‘TV established its rightful claim, as the medium for the nation’

    It’s that time of year, for the annual tea leaf-reading ritual, as the media pundits herald a new round of trends.

    Looking back, 2007 was an unusual year. It held much promise for media pundits, poised as it was, on the back of an unparalleled economic boom and a raging bull market. The bull was expected to take a breather and consolidate before a fresh charge and 2007 was to be the “Year of Consolidation” for the financial markets.

    The Media market was to pick up the baton and 2007 was billed as THE year as predictions flew thick and fast (yours truly was guilty of it too!). Almost all of them were, in one way or the other linked to the broadcast business – as the driver, the catalyst, the victim, the recipient.

    Lots of action was predicted and it did deliver, albeit differently. The bull confounded experts and continued to charge, clocking another year of impressive growth.

    What was 2007 for the media market? With the benefit of hindsight, let’s look at some of the popular predictions…

    Year of Cricket? – Starting with the World Cup, that turned out to be a fiasco, cricket proved to be a damp squib, leading many an advertiser to rue misplaced faith and rush back to the time tested favourites and mainstream entertainment.

    Year of Broadcast Erosion & GEC demise? – Probably the strongest and most confident predictions were about the rapid erosion in TV viewing and flight to other media. GEC as a genre held firm as the dominant choice during the year as Zee grew rapidly and consolidated on the gains. Broadcast viewing across genres moved northwards as the viewing experience expanded.

    Year of Consumer? – Besides indirect consumer voice through content viewership, consumer empowerment in a definitive, direct way was to be created on a large scale by way of the addressable Cas systems.

    After starting with much fanfare and anticipation in a limited “manageable” area, it remained confined there as ill equipped operators and logistical inadequacies resulted in thousands of homes blanking out on their favourite content at the stroke of midnight on 31st December 2006.

    Year of Launches? – The “buzz” in the market was entirely around the highly awaited “new additions” across the constituents of the industry. With the enticing promise of taking the TV experience to the next level. A slew of channels on the content side that many believed would reorganize the content genre structure. New broadcast delivery platforms that offered to “liberate” the consumer. Alternative media.

    Fact: The local cablewallah still rings my doorbell each month. General entertainment still rules the roost.

    Year of measurement? The lowest profile, yet most influential stakeholder in the industry was expected to see a major overhaul during the year. TAM’s expanded peoplemeter system was to be a generation leap from a four-year-old limited area, limited scope system, to a cutting edge, expansive full scale one. With capabilities ranging from handling new technologies and platforms, expansive coverage, deeper understanding of viewer segments and viewing behaviour etc. The new panel was a step upgrade in coverage terms. The elite panel too promised much and delivered little as it struggled with limited scope and the hangover of existing methodologies.

    SO WHAT WAS 2007 REALLY?

    It was the year of media consolidation.

    TV established its rightful claim, as the medium for the nation. The resurgence of TV and its ability to thrive even amid an onslaught of new and fragmenting media. Other traditional and new media alike (including FM radio, Internet, Mobile) failed to live up to the hype and proceeded to occupy their place in the hierarchy.

    It was the year when the broadcast industry took its seminal step towards maturity and financial viability in the form of a surcharge. It started of as a unified cry to bring attention to the broadcast industry’s frustrations. Concern against gross under valuation and runaway costs that threaten TV’s vulnerable ad-supported framework.

    It was the 20-20 year

    Not just in terms of the 20-20 format reviving depleting consumer interest in cricket, but to a greater extent, it brought to the fore a new formula of success based on changing audience preferences – short, sleek, quick, entertaining.

    WHAT WILL BE THE MEDIA INDUSTRY’S SEMINAL MOMENTS IN 2008?

    Nothing can kill this much desired, most maligned, most adored, advertising vehicle – not dropping rates, not under valuation, not an overcrowded market, not insufficient measurement, not print, not mobile, not the Internet.

    Genre Consolidation

    The much spoken about deluge of launches will unfold in the coming months, leading to an expansion in viewing experience and preferences, rather than fragmentation as is widely predicted.

    However, as competition enters the market, time, resources and overall value will shift, taking the broadcast industry rapidly towards the inflection point where consolidation becomes inevitable.

    Spiraled out costs, below par returns and maturing viewer preferences would force intra genre consolidation with an alpha duo in the lead and a following pack.