Tag: advertisers

Tollywood to woo Telugu movie lovers

MUMBAI: After Hindi films, south Indian movies occupy the largest share of the Indian market and going by Deloitte, Andhra Pradesh happens to be one of the biggest contributors down south.

Looking to carve a niche in the Rs 1750 crore Telugu film industry aka Tollywood is the Tollywood Channel, a general entertainment channel focused on films, launched in August last year.

With nearly 250 films certified each year, the channel plans to differentiate itself by running regular film news and bulletins. “Andhra people are keen to know about the pre- and post- happenings of films but unfortunately, no one is bringing them such news except for certain magazines. Tollywood Cinema aims to bridge this gap,” says Tollywood Channel MD Seetaram Avvas.

Funded by construction and infrastructure major Agri Gold Group, which has invested close to Rs 100 crore in the channel, Tollywood Cinema has adopted an appointment viewing strategy targeting mainly females in the 15+ age group as well as youth interested in movies.

Current shows include a cookery show called Tollywood Vantakam, a dance show named Ragada and a celebrity cricket show. New shows in the pipeline include Brain of Tollywood with SP Balasubramanayam, Antakshari with singer Sunita and game show Ravamma Mahalaxmi with Ashwini. Two new sitcoms – Kishkinda and Chitram Bhalare Victram – are also lined up.

Presently, the focus is Telugu movies but the channel plans to foray into other language films as well. A relative newcomer, Tollywood Channel is confident of not only becoming popular but also generating a good turnover.

“The GEC market space is close to Rs 600 crores and we plan to become a Rs 100 crore channel within three years. For this year, the target is Rs 25 crores. We also plan to bring in some new fiction shows,” says Avvas.

Informing that the channel is presently following the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) 12 minute ad cap regulation, he adds: “We are eagerly looking forward to what the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) will be coming out with. The furore over TV ratings is a transitory setback and a temporary phase.”

As far as advertisers go, the Tatas are already on board and discussions are on with the likes of Hindustan Unilever, PG, RB GSK and Cadbury among others. A 30 second slot would cost anywhere between Rs 4000 and Rs 5000. Mediahouse Entertainment is handling adsales while creative is being taken care of in-house.

Available with MSOs such as Hathway and Digicable, plans are being firmed up for availability on the DTH platform.

March 5, 2014
New technology to fuel the revenue growth for broadcasters in 2014
NEW DELHI: GAIAN Solutions India, a leading Technology and Consulting company that develops products and solutions for the Media and Entertainment industry, launches MAYA Platform for Satellite Broadcasters.

The LIVE Demo of ‘Maya Platform’ can be viewed between 21^st to 23^rd January at ‘Gaia TV’ Stall No.C-183, Upper Floor, Hall No. 18, Convergence India 2014, PragatiMadian, New Delhi.

Intoday’s fierce and highly competitive broadcasting environment, sole revenue generating models of straight jacket spot selling are fast becoming redundant.

A highly fragmented audience and an emerging class of smart advertisers exposed to the world of internet/world wide web are craving for a similar experience on TV as well since it’s the biggest screen in any household. This has made the industry look for a solution enabling localized content distribution and alternate possibilities of targeted advertising to create value for both broadcasters and advertisers.

Addressing this need ofthe industry, Maya platform by Gaian Solutions is a technology that offers exciting real time localized cloud content services thus offering powerful tools to enhance Broadcasters programming content. This is done by delivering different broadcast content (Programs, Overlays, Advertisements, etc.) simultaneously across different locations at the same time. It has potential to change Satellite Broadcasters revenues by orders of magnitude.

Chandra Kotaru, President and CEO – Gaian Solutions said “From the outsetwe have set the bar for technological innovation in digital TV, achieving an unrivalled array of industry firsts.Another such innovationMayais a breakthrough solution which has phenomenal potential to grow Indian TV industry by magnitude and it will increase value for all stake holders of Indian TV Broadcast ecosystem.”

The Maya platform offers six never-before seen solutions to the challenges and opportunities facing today’s broadcasters.

1. IP Free Edge Insertion: Maya’s localization technology integrates internet feeds and cloud content delivery mechanisms right into the uplink broadcast eliminating the need for internet connectivity at the edge devices. This liberates broadcasters from any kind of ecosystem challenges in commercializing localized data services.

2. Platform Agnostic Localization: Maya is platform agnostic ensuring seamless localization across all delivery channels be it a satellite broadcast or an OTT platform.

3. Satellite IRD Cloud Receiver: For the first time ever, Maya’s IRD integrates cloud and satellite reception into one device.

4. Full Featured HD IRD Storage Streamer: Therefore this full HD IRD player and streamer ensure savings on broadcasters HD migration budgets.

5. Full Featured Back Office & Self care Portal: Maya offers a full featured Back Office & Self-Care portal to automate the work flow of sourcing, delivery, approval, distribution, proof of play and billing of local advertisements

6. Automated Social Media Feed Injection: Maya allows broadcasters to report breaking news, latest events and trending topics, as they happen on Social Media platforms.

Thus Maya allows broadcaster to:-
- Change the broadcast deferred by region and by time at a click of a button from central studio. Deferred Broadcast by Region
- Enhance coverage of local events, rallies, and public meetings etc., on one part of the TV screen while the other part continues to run on the primary screen
- Insert all overlays of the edge using MAYA Edge Insertion Device that is 3D ready
- Supports local storage, advance audio options and unlimited regional language.
- Grow engagements with minimum CAPEX wherein the investment can be made by region right for localization.
- Go local on a global platform (GLOCAL Concept). ‘Maya’ is a Television broadcaster’s localization platform.
In a nutshell, Maya platform provides an end to end seamless solution to Satellite Broadcasters’ various needs of management & controls of hardware, software, content & business services by advance usage of technology. Prime aim is to increase more avenues for satellite broadcast industry to increase business intake, top line revenue as well as improve the bottom line profitability.

Maya Platform has already found the partners in Indian Broadcast Industry, Information TV Private Ltd , the network which owns and operates 9x News and India News bouquet of TV channels and Spoorthi Communications Pvt. Ltd. which operates ‘10TV’a Telugu News channel from Andhra Pradesh, have commissioned Gaian Solutions to install ‘Maya Platform’ for their channels.

To speak about Maya Platform, Kartikeya Sharma, MD of ITV Network said, “There has always been a notion that news channels are not profitable, but I feel quite contrary to that. I think news channels can be profitable if we get our business models right. Things are changing rapidly and technology has a very important role to play, so if channels adapt and learn technology, then it can be really helpful in their growth and Maya Platform is the key.

‘We are really exited to adopt Maya Platform, as it opens various new ways to communicate with our viewers at grass root level where they are more concerned with local issues which directly affect and influences their life, Maya Platform helps us do so and monetize local advertising opportunities at the same time,” Quoted S. Prasad, COO of 10TV.
January 21, 2014
Now Dish TV opts to dish out channel reach data

MUMBAI: It is taking transparency and openness to a totally different level. First it prised open the bundled channels that IndiaCast was offering and it started selling them to subscribers a la carte. Now, India’s oldest DTH operator, Dish TV,with a subscriber base of nearly 12 million says that it is planning to open up crucial subscriber information to media agencies and advertisers.

The DTH provider says it is looking at providing reach data of various channels on its platform every month to advertisers and media buyers from February 2014 onwards to enhance their understanding of how viewers are watching it. The data which is scheduled to be released in February will be for the month of January.

“We have been approached by media planners and advertisers often to share our data to enable them to get a better handle on the performance of various channels and since this data is universe data and not based on a small sample, it could prove to be a very valuable addition to the existing published data for eg from TAM and or other rating agencies,” says Dish TV CEO RC Venkateish.

The data given out will be as percentages. “We would provide the reach of each channel as a percentage of the total platform reach. So if a particular channel is in all packs it would reach 100 per cent of the platform, however if it is only in the top tier pack or is an a la carte then the reach would obviously be a fraction of the platform reach,” adds Venkateish. This means that if channel X is available in two packs whose subscriber base put together is 3 million that means its reach will be 25 per cent.

Media planners have welcomed Dish TV’s openness with open arms. Madison Media COO Karthik Lakshminarayanan says: “It is a welcome move for advertisers. The data will be more robust and it will also help us in planning and taking better decisions. We will be aware of the strong markets of Dish TV and if our client wants then they can advertise on its landing pages.” He also added that it could also help Dish TV to rake in more revenue.

On the other hand ZenithOptimedia CEO Satyajit Sen has a slightly different point of view. Although he does agree that the move is a good one, he feels it won’t help Dish TV get more revenue neither will it help in targeting better for advertisers. “Several times, channels oscillate due to uneven distribution and this transparency will help us understand the fluctuations better,” he says.

In November last year, the daddy of the DTH community had introduced a special scheme called ‘on request channels’ through which people could subscribe to channels only if they wanted to, and remove unnecessary ones. This had started a round of fisticuffs between it and IndiaCast, which was renewing its channel deal with the platform. Both IndiaCast and Dish TV knocked on the doors of the Telecom Disputes Settlement Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).The latter was ordered by the tribunal not to charge carriage fees and even call the scheme a la carte, while the former was told to discontinue the ads that were being carried on TV and in print, which were potentially inciting subscribers to go to other platforms. From 1 January, 22 IndiaCast channels are available on a la carte on Dish TV and another 11 will follow from 1 April.

RC (as he is known by colleagues) today believes that the move to take the channels a la carte has worked out exactly as he had foreseen it would.

Says he quite ecstatically: “Our recent initiative to empower consumers to avail channels according to their demand profile has been eye opening. The results so far have been fully consistent with our expectations and reinforce our beliefs that through the mechanism of forced bundling by aggregators a whole lot of channels with barely any pull are forced down the throats of platforms as well as consumers. Where true consumer choice is exercised you will find that the data is very revealing! In a way, despite valiant noises, the emperor isn’t wearing too many clothes!!!”

So what do broadcasters have to say about Dish TV’s openness? ZMCL CEO Alok Agrawal says that the move will benefit niche channels the most since TAM data provided about them isn’t always sufficient. However, Asianet business head Anup Chandrashekaran feels that one has to be cautious about any data dished out. “Dish TV also has ownership issues and so it is important to know how unbiased the data is. However, it is still a fraction of a majority and decisions can’t be taken on this data. It can be a good feedback though,” he says.

Dish TV is a subsidiary company of the Essel group that runs the Zee Network, hence Chandrashekaran’s concern.

January 15, 2014
YouTube ad revenue may rise by 50 per cent to $5.6bn

MUMBAI: YouTube, the online video streaming giant, is growing than ever before. According to a new report by eMarketer, YouTube’s advertising revenue is expected to rise by more than 50 per cent to $5.6 billion in 2013, also posing a threat to traditional TV ads.

The report by eMarketer claims that YouTube has become a huge favourite among advertisers and it will account for 11 per cent of advertising revenue at Google, YouTube’s parent. Earlier in May, Morgan Stanley predicted that YouTube’s gross revenue would reach $4 billion in 2013, while Barclays suggested a likely figure of $3.6 billion and Jefferies & Co’s $4.5 billion

Google has not revealed YouTube’s earnings, but eMarketer research suggests that the search engine got a bargain when it paid $1.65 billion for the site in 2006. However, the streaming site does not keep all the advertising revenue as it has to pay a share to advertising partners and providers of content.

Google’s public statistics for YouTube include the fact that the service attracts one billion people watching more than six billion hours of video a month, with 80 per cent of its traffic coming from outside the US, and 40 per cent of its viewing on mobile devices.

Advertisers are keen to buy slots on YouTube because of its young audience, who prefer to watch TV programmes through their computers, tablets and mobile phones rather than conventional televisions.

About 79 per cent of YouTube’s US ad revenue is from video advertising, with an estimated $850 million for the year. That would give it a 20.5 per cent share of the overall $4.15 billion US video ad market. eMarketer estimates that YouTube video-ad revenue would hit $1.22 billion in 2014, taking a 21.1 per cent share.

December 13, 2013
The puzzling case of TRAI’s ad cap

MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) found some unlikely supporters on the ad cap issue last week. On the one hand, Zee Entertainment, Star India and Viacom18 approached the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) saying that they were in favour of a limit to how much advertising should be allowed per hour and that they would like to become respondents to the cases filed by other broadcasters. Among these figure the News Broadcasters Association (NBA), regional and music channels all of whom have been opposing the regulation and have sought relief from the tribunal. The other supporter of the ad cap is an NGO called MediaWatch which said the ad cap should be extended to cable TV also and that TRAI should also ensure that broadcasters don’t cross the line on audio levels of commercials and also specialised ad formats on the TV screen.

Though the intervention filed by Zee, Star India and Viacom18 was rejected in the hearing that took place on 31 October, the tribunal has asked the networks to file a separate application, which would be heard only after the main case filed by NBA, music and regional channels, the next court hearing for which is 11 November.

“Well! We had filed for an intervention which was postponed,” is what Star India president and general counsel – legal and regulatory affairs Deepak Jacob said when Indiantelevision.com contacted him to enquire more about the case. However, he refused to divulge any more on the matter.

The three mainline Hindi GECs have been following the 10+2 ad cap regulation since 1 October, which was the deadline set by TRAI.

Industry watchers are asking what is it that made the three networks come out so blatantly in support of the ad cap when fourth network Sony Entertainment has not been following the TRAI diktat at all?

“They are in a position of strength as they have a tremendous share of viewer eyeballs,” says a media observer. “Hence, they can afford to take a hard stance in favour of the ad cap. Their belief is that advertisers have no alternative but to advertise on their channels. Their following the ad cap allowed them to jack up air time rates which more than made up for the drop in inventory. They would ideally like the status quo of lower advertising time to continue as it has benefited them and will continue to benefit them because paucity will result in better yields and rates.”

Another media observer believes that the approaches that the leading GECs have taken will add to the chaos and confusion. “The TV broadcast industry seems to have learnt very well how to stall any disruptive regulatory changes,” says a media planner laughingly. “You have several opposing and pro-voices speaking up at the same time which tends to lead to policy paralysis.”

She elaborates: “On the one side, the advertisers, agencies, news broadcasters, music channels and niche channels are against the TRAI ad cap. One of the major networks are also opposing it; while the other three are showing that they want it. It will be tough for anyone to decide which direction should things move. If the ad cap is on – in an election year – the news channels will take umbrage and the government cannot afford to have a negative fallout in an election year. If the ad cap is stalled for a while, that is good for everyone: the leading GECs have already got rate hikes of some sort; Sony can join in and hike rates and finally the news channels will not be faced with shriveling air time revenues. So they will be happy.”

“We are also taking a leadership position by complying with the TRAI regulations,” says an executive with one of the three networks. “We believe the time for change on TV advertising is now and hence are supporting it.”

What move will the telecom industry’s conscience – the TDSAT – and the regulator – TRAI- make next? Our guess is as good as any, but the ad cap game play is surely beginning to resemble a very complicated game of chess.

November 5, 2013
Twitter has edge over Facebook in real-time TV, says report

MUMBAI: When it comes to so-called “TV talkers”, those who use social media while watching television programs, Twitter still has an edge over Facebook, a report said Thursday.

As per the report, Twitter is still more attractive to advertisers and marketers than Facebook when it comes to real-time TV, according to eMarketer.

“Facebook is further behind, but it has several advantages—such as its massive size—that will, over time, make it an attractive option,” said the report.

Still, with more than a billion users, compared to Twitter’s base of more than 215 million, Facebook’s real-time TV promise is huge. A major reason is that, compared to Twitter, it has more user data for advertisers to tap.

Twitter, the report noted, “integrated with TV shows and networks and developed ad products that align with marketers’ television advertising.” Twitter has reported that “95% of public social conversations around TV happen on its service,” the report said.

Twitter’ strong TV potential has become more prominent as the San Francisco-based social network moves toward going public. Analysts sizing up the Twitter offering have consistently pointed to TV as one of its core strength.

In a way, Twitter’s TV edge is based on how it quickly emerged as “a place where people have gone to discuss what they are watching on TV.”

October 12, 2013
MIP Digital Fronts to debut at MIPTV 2014

CANNES: Reed MIDEM’s closing conference today saw the announcement of ‘Mip Digital Fronts’ at MipTV 2014.

Effectively, Mip Digital Fronts will be the world’s first international screenings showcasing buyers, producers, distributers, advertisers and strategists from the global TV and digital entertainment ecosystem.

MipTV 2014 (the 51st annual MipTV) will be held in Cannes from 7-10 April next year whereas the MIP Digital Fronts will be held at the Palais des Festivals on 9 April, 2014.

With MipTV being the world’s longest running annual television content market, conference and exhibition event, Mip Digital Fronts is estimated to reach over 11,000 international executives from approximately 100 countries, which includes 4,000 buyers, of which 800 will be Video on Demand (VOD) and digital acquisition specialists.

Significantly, Mip Digital Fronts aims to create the digital entertainment industry’s first true international marketplace for production, distribution and acquisition of high-quality original content produced exclusively for audiences on online web channels and app-based/OTT streaming video platforms.

Reed Midem director television division Laurine Garaude said: “For 50 years, MipTV has been the global destination to acquire new programmes. As the quality of online video entertainment evolves, the critical mass of audiences and advertisers is being reached, creating a sustainable marketplace for digital online production and distribution.”

“By introducing ‘Mip Digital Fronts’ at MipTV, we are simultaneously building a market for digital studios, while creating a platform for television and film studios to leverage their digital programming and production assets during the market.”

‘MIP Digital Fronts’ was conceived by Reed Midem, following the success of YouTube’s original online content showcase at MipTV 2013.

It will feature a full-day programme of 45-minute curated screening from world-renowned platforms, digital studios and online channels, and cover all genres of original digital content, including scripted and non-scripted series, shorts, formats, games, animation and content targeting kids and young adults. Additionally, there will be on-stage interviews with producers, creative executives and talents behind the content.

October 10, 2013
Twitter adds CBS to its stable of big advertisers

MUMBAI: Twitter has been frantically adding partners to its Amplify advertising program ever since it began informally last year with a partnership between the social network, ESPN and the Ford Motor Company. In those initial ads, the sports broadcaster sent out clips of football games, disguised in a Ford Fusion ad, as short messages on the service.

Since then, more than a dozen other content distributors, from the Fox television network to Globosat in Brazil, have joined the program, with brands including Heineken and AT&T promoting clips from major sports events like the U.S. Open tennis tournament and NCAA basketball games and live events like MTV‘s Video Music Awards.

Twitter recently announced that it had signed CBS, one of its biggest partners yet. The broadcast and internet network intends to use Twitter Amplify to showcase content from 42 products, from TVGuide.com to its fantasy football site.

As an example, Twitter and CBS showed off a possible “60 Minutes in 60 Seconds” ad, which could promote content from the revered television news magazine.

September 25, 2013
Evaluation of RFPs for BARC to be held from 14 August

NEW DELHI: The Evaluation Panel of the Technical Committee of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) will meet from 14 to 17 August in the hill station of Lonavla (close to Mumbai) to evaluate the responses to the Requests for Proposal (RFPs) received from 27 organisations. BARC had earlier received a total of 32 requests from different technology and research organisations for joining the process of television viewership monitoring. The committee has accepted 27 of these. Two of them – one technical and the other research – will make it to the finishing line.

“Some parties may have responded to both RFPs. Some may have sent in only the technical or research RFP,” says BARC principal provocateur/advisor Paritosh Joshi.

Joshi, who represents the broadcasters’ interests in the 12-member technical committee in BARC adds that “The entire evaluation process would be completed by November and the names of the two parties would be made public by December.”

BARC hopes to commence sending out television viewing audience research reports by the summer of next year. “We expect that in the first phase, the number of households will go up from the present 10,000 to 20,000, ensuring a proper balance of rural and urban areas,” he adds.

The present intention of the committee is to develop studies every six months. “But this can vary with time,” he informs.

BARC as part of its endeavour to share the latest updates with all constituents hosted its open house today in New Delhi. This was the second of the series of interactions that BARC plans to hold. Approximately 70 people representing the broadcasters, advertisers and agencies attended the meet.

Addressing the meet, Joshi stressed that BARC would not be a research body but a development organisation, He also updated the participants on the work done so far, the work planned, and a wish list of things that BARC hopes to achieve in the future.

BARC has claimed that this was one of the largest tender ever floated for audience measurement anywhere in the world. The tender terms state that each vendor has to work with whomsoever BARC wants it to work with. This is to ensure system integration, keeping in mind the involvement of multiple vendors.

“We are attempting to move from active metering where individuals are given people’s meters to passive metering where technologies like apps or even cameras inbuilt in TV sets and other devices will be used. Technology will now play a major part since television viewing is no longer confined to TV sets but to tablets, computers, fablets, mobiles and so on,” informs Joshi.

BARC has made it clear in its RFPs’ that it wanted a screen and technology agnostic measurement. “BARC wants to minimise human intervention in processing data,” reveals Joshi.

While the attempt is to report audience research on a weekly basis, BARC has recognised that there are some channels that could not be reported on a weekly basis, and so these channels can be reported quarterly. “BARC will give unduplicated quarterly reach since there is no other number available for these channels,” he informs.

Currently an establishment study is underway which covers 2.4 lakh households. For this, BARC has used the census of India and electoral rolls, since there was no other database available.

Clarifying the role of the technical committee, Joshi said, “Besides evaluation of the proposals for the new audience measurement system, the BARC technical committee will carry out due-diligence exercises on a regular basis once data starts flowing. Since audience measurement research is not stationary, it is evolving continuously; the technical committee will drive the evolution.”

The technical committee is autonomous of the BARC board. “The technical committee decides what the research needs. For the board to override a decision that the technical committee has made requires it to have a 75 per cent majority,” he says.

Referring to his wish list, Joshi hopes that the studies are cloud-based with broadcast data available on apps.

August 7, 2013
What now for broadcasters and advertisers?

The clock is ticking down for the seven broadcast networks, (actually eight, if you include Discovery too that joined the fray over the weekend) which coerced TAM to report on them on a monthly basis unilaterally without consulting either the Indian Society of Advertisers (ISA) or the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI).

Late Friday evening, advertisers such as Levers, P&G, Loreal, ITC, Britannia, Marico and Godrej put these broadcast networks on notice that if they did not revert to weekly ratings within 72 hours, all advertising on their channels would be pulled off and release orders would stand cancelled, 48 of those hours have already gone past. These broadcasters have only 24 hours left to take a decision.

More advertisers have been sending in their notices over the weekend and this is likely to continue over today. And their 72 hour time bomb notice will also continue to tick.

Advertisers sent the emails over the weekend to probably show they too mean business. Senior managements and sales heads in broadcast networks normally head of for their weekend holidays or timeoffs and hence are normally loathe to convene for any major decisions. With two days out of the three day notice period gone, now broadcasters will be hard-pressed to congregate and do some brainstorming and decide on their way forward today itself.

Above their heads is the guillotine of losing revenues. An estimate is that these broadcaster will lose Rs 22 crore a day collectively should there be a pullout.

There’s more to worry about for the broadcasters. If there are no TVCs, what will they do with the time that has been left vacant by the absence of ads? Fill it with promos of their own shows? Film trailers? But for how long?

They may have to incur further costs should they rely on extra content from 22-24 minutes being churned out currently to 26-27 minutes. That is going to mean writing out larger cheque amounts to TV producers as they will have to work their crew and casts for longer hours.

Continuing being rigid is an option broadcasters have. But it could lead to advertisers being equally rigid, leading to a standoff. Somebody will have to blink.

Even though some of the broadcast CEOs have been haw-hawing, saying that it is the advertisers who will do so, because they need the TV channels and history shows that they are prone to buckling under earlier when they are threatened with no ads, it need not hold true on this occasion.

Advertisers have options today: there are close to 300 channels which are continuing with weekly ratings, while around 105 channels are on a monthly engine. They could put their ads on the weekly-rating- channels. Unless of course the eight “rogue” (in the eyes of the advertisers) networks convince the remainder to join the monthly ratings gang.

At this stage, media observers feel, both sides are doing some grandstanding, watching each others’ moves closely. The squeeze will come when ads stop on TV, and if there is a stalemate. And it will be felt by both.

The year has already seen a slowdown on the economic front, thanks to a weak rupee and a general slowdown. Financial results for most companies are not expected to be something that shareholders will take too kindly by end this year.

Hence, it is in the interest of both to come to the negotiating table, and hammer out a face-saving solution, sooner than later, and keep the advertising cash flows going between each other. A week’s loss of advertising equates an estimated Rs 150 crore in revenue. And a possible further slow down in consumer off take of products from shop shelves for the advertisers. That’s something both cannot afford.

July 15, 2013