MAM

Television channels step into the Great Outdoors

Published

22 years ago

February 12, 2004

The world is a communications village. And television is one of the media for facilitating that communication. Today it is no surprise to see the same channel being beamed simultaneously all over the world, with some tweaking to make it suitable for local tastes. In India television has exploded into our homes over the past decade with more than a 100 channels making a beeline for eyeballs.

This makes for a highly competitive industry with each player’s survival hinging on a dedicated viewing of its programmes, by a large and ever increasing base of people. That is its only source of revenue (apart from subscription fees). The larger the number of people who watch a channel’s programs, the greater is the possibility of advertisers getting interested in using it as a vehicle for advertising their brands. The more the advertisers who placed their adverts on the channel, the higher its revenue. The fatter the take-home packet on the revenue front, the more the channel can invest in better and refined contents.

TV channels form an integral part of the entertainment industry. By definition, entertainment, as the word suggests, is an ongoing activity. One that must be entertaining, enjoyable and most importantly, novel on an everyday basis. Repetition, on television, creates boredom and causes irritation.

“Oh God, I saw this yestraday and again in the afternoon!! I’ll switch channels and see if there is another one that is showing new and refreshing fare,” are the viewers’ thoughts.

In such a scenario how can a TV channel find the high ground ? How can it increase its viewership without taking a hard hit?

How can it make more and more people stay glued to its programs?

How can it do this such that it matches its change in its program content?

Which is the medium which offers immediacy, is communicative, is eyecatching, offers colour, is seen by a large number of people who are walking, commuting, shopping, or driving to or from work and offers short duration contracts and is not prohibitive in terms of costing? The answer if you have guessed by now, is The Great Outdoors, mate.

Take a look at the comparitive advantages that hoardings/billboards offer over other media vehicles. In fact, it would not be an idle boast if one said they are idle for television channels and producers who are looking at a good way to target viewers and specific audiences.

Newspapers: Newspapers offer the benefit of immediacy. But they are read only by their base of readers. A TV channel would have to advertise at a very high frequency for the program content to be known and viewed by its base of readers. Hence, in terms of reach and cost, newspapers work out to be an expensive option.

Magazines: Mags like newspapers, can be read only by the base readers. Hence, they are an expensive proposition.

The Great Outdoors:
* The medium offers immense repeat viewership of a communications message, without incurring any repetitive costs. About 10 strategically located sites, in Mumbai, would offer the advertiser a solution that would help him cover the mass of the audience in the city.

* In the great outdoors, the medium is the message. It’s the editorial or content ambience that determine readership or viewership of a medium. Billboards or hoardings fit that to the tee, they provide advertisements with a high “opportunity to see.”

* As far as billboards or the outdoors are concerned the audience has zero access cost and no threshold at all to receive the communication – except for the gift of vision.

* Due to the heavy fragmentation/ high clutter of media like Print and TV, the time spent on these media by audiences has reduced considerably.

*The Outdoors is considered to be a ‘mass’ media vehicle while all other media are increasingly defining themselves to a particular audience by content, design etc.

* Visual imagery can be enhanced through the use of top quality illumination and well executed creative, thus helping billboards achieve their promise as traffic stoppers. In the process, they well may help build quick brand awareness.

Savvy marketers at select television channels, have given a shot in the arm to the hoardings business, stepping into the vaccuum left by dot com clients who disappeared once the hype died down. Television marketers who have not used hoardings to their maximum potential would do well in taking another hard look at the medium.

Brands

Netflix India names Rekha Rane director of films and series marketing

Streaming giant bets on a seasoned marketer who helped build Amazon and Netflix into household names

Published

1 month ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Netflix has put a proven brand builder at the helm of its films and series marketing in India, naming Rekha Rane as director in a move that signals sharper focus on audience growth and cultural cut-through in one of its most hotly contested markets.

Rane steps into the role after seven years at Netflix, where she has quietly shaped how the platform sells stories to India. Her latest promotion, effective February 2026, crowns a run that spans brand, slate and product marketing across originals, licensed content and new verticals such as games.

A strategic marketing and communications professional with roughly 15 years’ experience, Rane has spent much of her career building technology-led consumer businesses and new categories, notably e-commerce and subscription video on demand. She was part of the early push that introduced Amazon.in, Prime Video and Netflix to Indian homes, then helped turn them into everyday brands.

At Netflix, she most recently served as head of brand and slate marketing for India from March 2024 to February 2026, leading teams across media and marketing for global and local content portfolios. Before that, as manager for original films and series marketing, she led IP creation and go-to-market strategy for titles including Guns and Gulaabs, Kaala Paani, The Railway Men* and The Great Indian Kapil Show, spanning both binge and weekly-release formats.

Her earlier Netflix roles covered product discovery and promotion in India and integrated campaign strategy to drive conversations around the content slate, product awareness and brand-equity metrics.

Before Netflix, Rane logged more than three years at Amazon in brand marketing roles in Bengaluru. There she handled national and regional campaigns for Amazon.in, worked on customer assistance programmes in growth geographies and contributed to the go-to-market strategy for the launch of Prime Video India.

Her career began well away from streaming. At Reliance Brands in Mumbai, she worked on retail marketing for Diesel and Superdry. A stint at Leo Burnett saw her work on primary research for P&G Tide, mapping Indian shoppers’ paths to purchase. Earlier still, at Orange in the United Kingdom, she rose from sales assistant to store manager, running a team and owning monthly P&L for a retail outlet.

The arc is telling. As global streamers fight for attention in a crowded Indian market, executives who understand both mass retail behaviour and digital habit-building are prized. Rane’s career sits at that intersection.

For Netflix, the bet is simple: in a market spoilt for choice, sharp marketing can still tilt the screen. And with Rane now leading the charge, the streamer is signalling it wants not just viewers, but fandom.

Brands

Orient Beverages pops the fizz with steady Q3 gains and rising profits

Kolkata-based beverage maker reports stronger revenues and profits for December quarter.

Published

1 month ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: A fizzy quarter with a steady aftertaste that’s how Orient Beverages Limited, the company that manufactures and distributes packaged drinking water under the brand name Bisleri closed the December 2025 period, as the Kolkata-based drinks maker reported improved revenues and a healthy rise in profits, signalling operational stability in a competitive beverage market.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, Orient Beverages posted standalone revenue from operations of Rs 39.98 crore, up from Rs 36.42 crore in the previous quarter and Rs 33.53 crore in the same quarter last year. Total income for the quarter stood at Rs 42.24 crore, reflecting consistent demand and stable pricing across its beverage portfolio.

Profit before tax for the quarter came in at Rs 3.47 crore, a sharp improvement from Rs 1.31 crore in the September quarter and Rs 0.39 crore a year ago. After accounting for tax expenses of Rs 0.79 crore, the company reported a net profit of Rs 2.68 crore, nearly three times the Rs 0.99 crore recorded in the preceding quarter.

On a nine-month basis, the momentum remained intact. Revenue from operations for the period ended December 31, 2025 rose to Rs 117.66 crore, compared with Rs 106.95 crore in the corresponding period last year. Net profit for the nine months climbed to Rs 5.51 crore, more than double the Rs 2.18 crore reported in the same period of the previous financial year.

The consolidated numbers told a similar story. For the December quarter, consolidated revenue from operations stood at Rs 45.06 crore, while profit after tax came in at Rs 2.06 crore. For the nine-month period, consolidated revenue touched Rs 133.57 crore, with net profit of Rs 4.49 crore, underscoring the group’s improving profitability trajectory.

Operating expenses remained largely controlled, with cost of materials, employee benefits and other expenses broadly aligned with revenue growth. The company continued to operate within a single reportable segment beverages simplifying its cost structure and reporting framework.

The unaudited financial results were reviewed by the Audit Committee and approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting held on 7 February 2026. Statutory auditors carried out a limited review and reported no material misstatements in the results.

In a market where margins are often squeezed by input costs and competition, Orient Beverages’ latest numbers suggest the company has found a reliable rhythm not explosive, but steady enough to keep the fizz alive.

MAM

Washington Post CEO exits abruptly after newsroom cuts spark backlash

Leadership change follows layoffs, protests and a bruising battle over trust.

Published

1 month ago

February 9, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: When the presses are rolling but patience runs out, even the editor’s chair isn’t safe. The Washington Post announced on Saturday that its chief executive and publisher Will Lewis is stepping down with immediate effect, bringing a sudden end to a turbulent two-year tenure marked by financial strain, newsroom unrest and public backlash.

Lewis’s exit comes just days after the Bezos-owned newspaper announced sweeping job cuts that triggered protests outside its Washington headquarters and a wave of anger from readers and staff. While newspapers across the US are grappling with shrinking revenues and digital disruption, Lewis’s leadership had increasingly come under fire for how those pressures were handled.

The Post confirmed that Jeff D’Onofrio, a former Tumblr CEO who joined the organisation last year as chief financial officer, has taken over as CEO and publisher, effective immediately. In an email to staff, later shared by reporters on social media, Lewis said it was “the right time for me to step aside.”

The leadership change follows the announcement of large-scale redundancies earlier this week. While the Post did not officially confirm numbers, The New York Times reported that around 300 of the paper’s roughly 800 journalists were laid off. Entire teams were dismantled, including the Post’s Middle East bureau and its Kyiv-based correspondent covering the war in Ukraine.

Sports, graphics and local reporting were sharply reduced, and the paper’s daily podcast, Post Reports, was suspended. On Thursday, hundreds of journalists and supporters gathered outside the Post’s downtown office in protest, calling the cuts a blow to public-interest journalism.

Former executive editor Marty Baron described the moment as “among the darkest days in the history of one of the world’s greatest news organisations.”

Lewis defended his record in his farewell note, saying “difficult decisions” were taken to secure the paper’s long-term future and protect its ability to publish “high-quality nonpartisan news”. But his tenure coincided with growing scrutiny of editorial independence at the Post.

Owner Jeff Bezos faced criticism for reining in the paper’s traditionally liberal editorial page and blocking an endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ahead of the 2024 US election. The move was widely seen as breaking the long-standing firewall between ownership and editorial decision-making.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, around 250,000 digital subscribers cancelled their subscriptions after the paper declined to endorse Harris. The Post reportedly lost about $100 million in 2024 as advertising and subscription revenues slid.

While the wider newspaper industry continues to battle declining print advertising and the pull of social media, some national titles have stabilised. Rivals such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have managed to build sustainable digital businesses, a turnaround that has so far eluded the Post despite its billionaire backing.

As Jeff D’Onofrio steps into the role, the challenge is stark, restore confidence inside the newsroom, win back readers who walked away, and prove that one of America’s most storied newspapers can still find its footing in a brutally competitive media landscape.