Tag: covid2019

Network18’s initiatives to curb the spread of Covid2019 among employees

MUMBAI: News outlets have been relentlessly covering the Covid2019 pandemic outbreak in India. A cursory glance at any channel would show reporters taking precautions such as wearing masks, gloves and maintaining distance from others. Despite all the precautions, Network18, which houses a bunch of national and regional news channels under the TV18 umbrella, was one of the media companies that found some employees to have tested positive for Covid2019. It swung into action immediately through the systematic intervention and timely assistance of various departments, primarily the HR.

Over the past two months, the media organisation tested more than 700 colleagues and their immediate families. From among the more than 7000 employees across the length and breadth of India, only 16 colleagues have tested positive. Every positive case has been followed up with meticulous contact-tracing. The company said that where possible, it cared for all those who have tested positive and their families at Reliance’s facilities.

“Sixteen have tested positive, but in the circumstances, it is an extraordinary statistic and a testament to all our efforts. Most of them have recovered and many are asymptomatic. We have tested most colleagues at Reliance facilities and treated them and their families at RIL's hospitals,” said a Network18 spokesperson.

The media company, owned by Reliance Industries, adopted the ‘safety first’ mantra from day one. Because of the strict work protocols the broadcaster put in place, the infection did not spread. “Protection of our colleagues is at the heart of our strategy. Ratings may have suffered in some weeks for some channels, but we know our priorities. There can be no compromise on the safety of our people,” stated the firm.

The Covid tracker application, an early innovation from Reliance, has been keeping a close eye on symptoms. If there is the slightest hint that someone is unwell with signs of the virus, Reliance doctors take charge. “They have been on call for any emergency and continue to provide consultation. This has helped in tracing a few colleagues early on, which has helped in early isolation and treatment," informed the company.

Some key initiatives it took to reassure colleagues of its preparedness and planning:

1. Except those at the frontlines of TV news broadcasts, all others are working from home. Arrangements have been made for those working from home to do so as if it were business-as-usual.

2. Teams are working in batches that don’t come in contact with each other. Employees also take turns working alternate weeks. Although this has meant that the organisation is operating with much smaller teams than its regular strength, this practice has the merit of safety.

3. All employees are equipped with masks, gloves, sanitisers and immunity-boosting vitamin pills. Many reporters in the frontlines are armed with PPE suits. Every square-inch of the facilities is disinfected with anti-viral treatment and cleaned daily and deep-cleaning takes place several times a week. All mass-contact surfaces are cleaned with disinfectants many times daily.

4. Reporters and camerapersons never enter the news floor, or indeed the office premises. All outdoor equipment is disinfected daily, and so are cabs. Reporters and camera teams are being equipped with protective kits.

Several employees wrote testimonials for the company after they recovered. One recovered person, who works with tech ops in Mumbai, wrote: “Please accept my deepest gratitude for your support in that difficult time. Your support has been invaluable to me and I could not imagine how I would be able to survive in those critical days without your help. I remember Sanjeev sir's effective steps helped me to get admitted in the hospital quickly when my test result came positive. Organisation also arranged a medical check-up and sample collection for my family at home on the same day and sent necessary medicines to them. This effort was speechless. I would like to take special moments to thank all the HR team, Teleport team, Reliance hospital team and last but not least Reliance family for being with me and my family in those days.”

May 22, 2020
Missing brands must restart marketing to catch rising demand across categories

NEW DELHI: After a lull of more than two months, businesses in India are slowly getting back on track as lockdown restrictions ease. There is a positive sentiment among most brands and agencies that things will only get better from here on and there seems to be a plethora of opportunities waiting.

According to FCB India group chairman and CEO Rohit Ohri and Havas Group India CEO Rana Barua, a lot of their clients have started getting positive responses from consumers in areas that fall under the green zone.

Barua had told us in an earlier interview that one of its major clients, Hyundai, recorded 500 bookings in just two days of opening up of a limited number of showrooms. Ohri said that brands functioning in the essentials category, like food and hygiene, are getting a splendid rise in demand.

Recently, Siyaram’s, one of the most prominent players in the Indian textile industry, said that the retailers in the green zones have started recording two-thirds of normal daily sales number already, indicating a positive sentiment amongst consumers. McDonald’s, too, had talked to Indiantelevision.com about an impending pent-up demand across industries.

With a further change in lockdown rules, the industry is taking cognisance of several other possible trends. Barua now added, “I think (do not have data to back this) a lot of urgent categories would have opened up as many consumers would require change/service/repair of electronics, white goods, mobile accessories, home/kitchen accessories and appliances, etc. I say this because, with a, close to, 60-day lockdown and everyone at home using all the mentioned above more than ever, I am quite sure that this will be the need of the hour.”

Madison Media chief analytics officer Nagaraj Krishnamurthy shared Bain & Company’s survey results that show demand for staples, household hygiene, food ordering-in, toys and even beauty products are improving in green zones.

He said, “I do not foresee any issues concerning the demand for essentials. There is a lot of talk about revenge shopping of consumer discretionary items. My personal feeling is revenge shopping at best will provide a blip in the first week after easing is announced. On a medium-term basis, there will be demand contraction for luxury and discretionary products.”

Dentsu One president Harjot Singh Narang elaborated that while essentials will surely be growing in sales; the fate of products and services like the purchase of automobiles and personal transport, new food experiences, travel and tourism will depend largely on consumer sentiment depending on how fast a vaccine is found and distributed, amongst other factors.

He said, “There can be two broad scenarios on this. As we come out of it the sentiment could be of “fear and worry” which would lead to safety behaviour, putting off any non-essential expenditure, more investments in insurance products etc., or the sentiment could be that of “we dodged a bullet” leading to more of the YOLO (you only live once) behaviour of spending and enjoyment of experiences to celebrate the survival and resilience that led us out.”

Whatever the case may be from the demand-side, advertisers suggest that it is high time that brands, which were missing from the public glare for the past two months or so, restart their advertising activities.

Wunderman Thompson South Asia chairman and group CEO Tarun Rai shared, “The crisis took everyone by surprise. It is unprecedented and without any playbook. Some brands, sensibly, have been present through this crisis – whether in terms of communication or by actually doing positive things to help mitigate the crisis. The brands that have missed out should start getting visible now.”

Krishnamurthy added, “Marketing and more specifically advertising is an investment. The golden rule to maximise return is to invest when costs are low. Marketers who did not invest in previous phases of lockdown missed a great opportunity to build brand love on a very cost-effective basis. I would urge all brands, especially those in FMCG business, where the top-of-the-funnel activation is critical to invest more. You rarely see an increase in media consumption that is accompanied by lower media cost.”

About what should be the approach of brands to restart marketing, Rai said, “They still have to be empathetic and recognise that the crisis is not over. But after two months they can open up their marketing budgets as there are definite signs of consumers getting back to spending in many parts of the country. This could be a very important phase as there has to be a lot of pent-up demand. Marketers don’t want to miss out on it.”

Barua highlighted that authenticity should be a key factor in brand communication today. “Brands and businesses have a huge and potentially vital role to play. But they must do so with authenticity because it is the right thing to do, not for themselves, not even just for their customers, but for society as a whole. In line with this, getting back to relevance and creating a compelling, engaging story to fit back into the consumer’s life is integral. Be meaningful for the consumer so that they clearly understand the void and reach out to buy the brand.”

Narang further elaborated on a suitable strategy for brands to make a comeback in the marketing world through a two-pronged approach: first from the marketing impact on business perspective and second from the brand’s relationship with its consumers’ perspective.

From an impact on the business perspective, he shared, “Teams would need to track sentiments very closely and pivot quickly to the changed needs of their consumers given these abnormal times. Responses could be different for different individual businesses and categories – from a changed product design perspective, a pricing/ SKU need matching perspective or even a new approach to distribution channel dynamics etc,., or a combination of such elements.”

He insisted that brands go “deeply human” to address the situation from the relationship with consumers perspective. “Adapt as a brand to the new paradigm exactly like human relationships adapt and grow in uncertain times. This is the time that separates the wheat from the chaff for people at large and consumer segments in particular and relationships and brands that do not have a deep enough link will be left behind or even forgotten. Just see the personal relationships that will survive and even grow for your consumer segment and evolve your brand to be in sync with those patterns. At the very base level – out of sight and out of mind would be a big factor for people in what relationships survive and which ones fall behind as unimportant – the same will play out with brands.”

May 22, 2020
Limited workforce in office, copy fatigue: Immediate challenges facing ad industry

NEW DELHI: The past two months have been nothing short of a rollercoaster for industries across categories and nationalities. With most of the world under a strict lockdown, production halted, supply-chains blocked, and consumer demand shifting to only essentials, the economy went through a whirlwind of issues. Also greatly impacted was the marketing and advertising industry, as a result of the dwindling cash liquidity and many brands going silent in the time of crisis.

However, things seem to be moving towards the better now. Lockdown restrictions have been eased greatly, green zones are already attracting consumers, and there is a lot of supposed pent-up demand to address. As brands start moving and earning, a lot of benefits will slowly be transferred to the advertising industry.

Wunderman Thompson South Asia chairman and group CEO Tarun Rai said, “While the crisis in India is still far from over, the relaxation is a sign of hope. It is also a reflection on the strikingly varied impact the crisis has had on different regions of the country. While there are still issues regarding both production and distribution, the clients I have spoken to are finding innovative ways of getting around them. For many categories, this is the time to dust off their marketing campaigns and start getting ready for the beginnings of positive consumer sentiment. Like the crisis came upon us suddenly the rebound may surprise us too. Marketers and brands should be ready.”

Dentsu One president Harjot Singh Narang added, “Investments in brand and marketing are sadly the first to go in a downturn but luckily come back really fast as soon as the businesses start seeing growth potential coming back. The relaxations are the first steps to inching back for now and so would be welcome by everyone. The real question would be how long before this inching ahead gathers some speed and opportunity to use brand and marketing as business drivers returns.”

There, however, are still some impending challenges that await the industry. Havas Group CEO Rana Barua argues that the next few months will be more testing. “There will be numerous challenges going forward; going back to work poses more challenges than working from home. We cannot jump the gun and start behaving as normal. We need to collectively behave and act responsibly which will ensure compliance while we are planning to go back to work, safety for all employees, managing both offices and also working from home, balancing client needs and expectations.”

Madison Media chief analytics officer Nagraj Krishnamurthy noted, “The industry is continuing to find it difficult to ensure supply chain continuity between the designated red, orange and green zones. Latest relaxation has eased the problem but not eliminated it. It will be at least a quarter before the last mile link to the consumer becomes operational pan India.”

Putting emphasis on the issues that the advertising industry will have to cater to, he added, “Usually, new copies are rolled out in the first quarter. However, this year, there are no new copies that are ready. Some clients are in a dilemma as to whether they can invest behind older copies. My suggestion to them is that they should unless the message is no more relevant. Analytics has proved that copy fatigue is a very rare phenomenon.”

“Secondly, the situation on the ground is not uniform across the country. Marketers are wondering whether they should go on mass media like television. If the campaign is to activate top-funnel metrics, they should advertise on TV. However, brands advertising to activate lower-funnel metrics like retail or auto can look at geo-targeted digital approaches.”

Rai highlighted that the safety and health of the agency’s employees are going to be of paramount importance. “We want to get back to our physical offices but want to be very sure that all the health protocols are in place. We are working effectively from home but getting back to work will give everyone a sense of normalcy. We will start slow, in one city first, with around 30 per cent of our staff and move forward from there. The other important aspect is going to be when video production is permitted. We are managing even now but it is difficult.”

Narang added, “Extended work from home, deeper thinking on brand relationships, strategies to navigate the months/full year of acute slowdown, strategies to tackle the adverse P&L impacts, and so many more immediate challenges face all of us in the industry. If change is the only constant then evolution and adaptation are the only necessities. Going ahead relaxations and new rules and ways will affect even more – how things change for the industry. However, the key will be to see how the industry and individual players in it evolve and adapt. In the next 18 months, leadership and thinking that enables pivoting to adapt to new realities will be the biggest need of this industry.”

May 21, 2020
Siyaram’s lost 25% of business during lockdown, expecting better festive season

NEW DELHI: Siyaram’s is looking forward to exploring marketing activities in the coming festive season, starting October, but with a new approach to the media mix, president Shreedhar Soni told Indiantelevision.com on the occasion of a virtual press meet, organised by the brand to announce its ‘Retail Mahakumbh’ initiative.

He shared, “Siyaram’s core marketing activities, as you would have noticed, are mostly centred around the wedding season and the festive season, starting October, which will commence normally as every year. Sure, we have missed our opportunity with the summer sales this year, but we will be sticking to our plans of making the brand popular going ahead. However, we will have a different approach to use the mediums. Greater focus will be moving towards digital marketing. TV and print part will also resume, as we are expecting the market to develop some normalcy by then.”

It is also planning to expand Siyaram’s online business, which currently stands at just 10 per cent. The upcoming ‘Retail Mahakumbh’ will be focussing, among many other things, on training the retailers to promote and sale their products using the digital medium.

VP marketing N Gangadhar added, “We will also be launching some new products in the coming months. As people get more conscious about what they wear and purchase post-coronavirus, we are planning to launch anti-viral and anti-microbial fabrics.”

The fabric is already ready and awaiting some approvals on its efficiency. It will be launched as soon as it gets clearance and the trade channels start moving again.

Additionally, the senior executive team of Siyaram’s also shed some light on how Covid2019 impacted the sector and their business during the lockdown.

President and ED Gaurav Poddar shared, “We were almost non-functional mid-March onwards. There was virtually no production for the past 2.5 months. We lost almost 25 per cent of our business in these months.”

However, he is positive that things will start getting better soon. “Around 150 of our retails shops have already opened in the green zone areas and they are recording somewhere around two-thirds of the normal sales number already, which I feel is not bad.”

He added while exports will take another quarter to get back to normal, the domestic sector will be quicker to improve as there is a lot of pent-up demand among the consumers.

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May 21, 2020
Tata Motors, WATConsult recreate Ludo to spread awareness on Covid2019

Mumbai: The Covid209 lockdown has brought about a fundamental shift in content consumption patterns. With ample time in hand, people are turning to watch movies, shows, and play online games to keep themselves entertained. Amongst all, one game that has seen a tremendous surge in popularity and repeat plays across every age group is Ludo.

With over 50 million daily active users, this game brings together families and friends in a time when they physically cannot be. The game has also witnessed a huge amount of success among celebrities during this period of lockdown. While everyone understands the rules of Ludo, a closer look at the game reveals that apart from being entertaining and addictive, it is also a perfect metaphor for social distancing.

Leading automobile manufacturer Tata Motors and WATConsult, the globally awarded hybrid digital agency from the house of Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) India, decided to use this symbolism to re-create this unique game. Titled #SafetyFirst Ludo, the new version of the game highlights the necessity to stay indoors and the risks that would befall us if we ventured out without protection.

Link to the game:https://ludo.tatamotors.com/

The idea stemmed from a simple insight wherein the main goal is to reach your ‘home’ as quickly as possible. As per the rules of the game, when a player ‘touches’ someone (equivalent to an in-game kill), he/she has to go back to the starting point (which is similar to being in quarantine) until the player rolls a 6 again; and this is the exact representation of what we are currently facing in the fight against Covid2019. This popular game has been re-launched during the lockdown period, aiming to teach Indians to be hygienic and show responsibility in protecting themselves.

The game is designed in two playing modes: the Virus Spread mode and the Social Distancing mode. In the 'Virus Spread mode', one would get penalised for being too close to another player, that is, when the player is right behind or in front of them. But this can be counteracted by choosing to ‘sanitise’. The idea behind 'Social Distancing mode' is to avoid the players from being too close to each other under all circumstances. They need to maintain a minimum of one block distance between any two pieces at any given point in time.

Vivek Srivatsa, head – marketing, passenger vehicle business unit, Tata Motors, said, "In light of the current scenario, digital engagement has taken a completely new shape. With an increased consumption of online content, keeping customers entertained yet informed is the way forward. Safety has always been of utmost importance to us, and what better way than to integrate it within a game that is synonymous to all. With the above in mind, we along with our team at WATConsult came up with an ingenious idea of #SafetyFirst Ludo. We aim to bring our community together on this gaming platform while reminding them of the importance of practicing Safety First during these times.”

WATConsult CEO Heeru Dingra said, “With the lockdown impacting all of us in many different ways, digital engagement is something that is indeed binding us together. Games and television seem to be the major sources of entertainment. Safety being Tata Motors’ utmost priority, we thought of extending the brand's philosophy uniquely. #SafetyFirst Ludo is the perfect example of what we need right now, a subtle reminder of why we must maintain social distancing, along with a fun and engaging activity to help the lockdown become a little more fun.”

Tata Motors was the first Indian manufacturer to make a 5-star safety-rated car for India certified by Global NCAP and #SafetyFirst has always been one of their core values. In this time of need, this campaign manifests the same values, globally.

May 20, 2020
Industry hails eased lockdown restrictions, wants more from economic stimulus

NEW DELHI: We are close to completing two months of the ongoing nationwide lockdown, instigated by the fatal global pandemic COVID2019, living through extraordinary times, adjusting to newer ways of working, and dealing with newer ways of living. Many businesses have faced unimaginable loss, with giants like Ola, Uber, Swiggy, amongst others, laying off employees in mass numbers, and brands like Cream Bell shutting down. Small-scale businesses, be it brands running the shop on Instagram, or independent agencies, everyone has faced dire consequences.

Amidst all this, the Indian government announced the fourth phase of the lockdown a few days back, with a lot of relaxations (depending on a state-to-state basis), and also introduced an economic stimulus package to help the businesses, especially the MSMEs, getting back on their feet, laying a foundation for ‘Aatmnirbhar Bharat’ (self-reliant India).

The advertising industry’s reaction to these announcements has been lukewarm. While most of them seem to be content with the new lockdown guidelines, they had higher expectations with the economic stimulus than served.

Reacting to the new lockdown guidelines, Havas Group CEO Rana Barua noted that it is very early to comment “as there are way too many mixed reactions from the industry. So, we will have to wait for a few more weeks to understand the implications.”

FCB India group chairman and CEO Rohit Ohri said, “India is a densely populated country and it is wiser to remove the lockdown in a phased manner. The government, I feel, is doing a great job at it.”

Madison Media chief analytics officer Nagaraj Krishnamurthy also lauded the government intervention in the matter. “The new lockdown guidelines try to balance life and livelihood. State governments have been given more power to decide on implementation. This is a welcome step as local government will be a lot more informed on the ground reality. Ideally, we may have wanted all restrictions removed so that crowd immunity gets developed. However, such a broad stroke easing of restrictions may not be practically possible.”

Dentsu One president Harjot Singh Narang feels that the current situation is much like watching a cricket match as things are happening in real-time and everyone is reacting according to the evolving situations in ways they think is the best.

He said, “(The steps) are being subjected to a billion viewers with multibillion views on what is being done and what more could be done differently. I strongly feel that at times of crisis like this, we need to let the frontline response team do its work and do our best to help them in any way possible. There will always be views (personal and public) on what more could be done for the economy, the migrant, the underprivileged, etc…. but for now I feel we are clearly looking to open up slowly and cautiously. Is it “too cautious” or “too early”, that only time will tell.”

The new economic stimulus, while great for the businesses, doesn’t hold much ground when it comes to helping to deal with the demand-side problems that India has been facing.

While Barua preferred to reserve his comments on the economic package for the time being, Krishnamurthy noted, “There have been very good announcements with regard to reforms. The government has used a crisis to unleash difficult reforms in holy cow sectors like agriculture and defence. Rural demand which was subdued will now improve. This will lead to lagged uplift in demand. However, in the strict meaning of stimulus which is a capital infusion, it is a tad disappointing. There is no sector-specific monetary stimulus for very badly hit sectors like retail, media, hospitality etc.”

He added that it is very much possible that the government will come up with one more round of monetary stimulus once the lockdown ends and people get back to work. “A true picture of demand will then emerge and the government can intervene to ease the pain faced by badly impacted sectors.”

Narang agreed to Krishnamurthy that the stimulus will help the business but there is a 50:50 chance of demands improving early. “If I try to put myself in the decision maker’s shoes – as of now the thinking behind the stimulus package seems to be – over-index and create more liquidity for businesses so they can pass it on to people as wages, profits etc, and that should increase demand overall. Additionally, push in big-ticket reforms to oil the business machinery and enable it to run faster and better thereby attracting large foreign businesses to set up production facilities in our country and keep the wheels of growth turning.”

“Sounds good in theory but the problem is that any thinking on supply-led growth is bound to take a long time as the economic multiplier kicks in and gets demand grows. Given the suffering around us and the sentiment that has fallen sharply ever since 2019 and now the complete nosedive of 2020, this time span could be even longer. This situation could jeopardise the whole theoretical possibility of it working. However, if the reforms kick in quickly and we do get to become a producer-led economy for large business investments, then even though we will go through a painful period for some time the recovery could be more robust and sustainable than a simple consumption-led growth model that we seem to have until 2018.” he added.

Both Narang and Ohri said that it would have been better if the government had put money directly in consumer’s hands.

Ohri suggested relief in taxes to support the dwindling spending power. Narang said, “I would look to put money in people’s hands directly as much as possible through tax reductions and direct transfers to the underprivileged but am not sure on how much the current coffers of the government could support this and how much of it could become just a short-term measure to alleviate pain without a mid- to long-term strategy to kick in long-term restructuring and growth that truly reduces inequality all around.”

May 20, 2020
Airtel digital TV revenue up 16.9% in Q4

MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel on Monday posted its fourth quarter results for the fourth quarter of financial year 2019-20. While revenue was up seven per cent at Rs 23,723 crore on a quarter-on-quarter basis, it has registered a consolidated loss of Rs 5,237 crore year-on-year. Mobile services revenue has increased 21.8 per cent YoY and 16 per cent quarter to quarter.

Airtel's journey as a digital business continued strongly in Q4’20. The company has over 160 million Monthly Active Users across digital assets – Airtel Thanks, Wynk and X Stream. It has over 1.1 million retailers transacting and making payments every day on our Mitra App.

Today over 60 per cent of its entire business goes through digital channels, and with share of AirtelThanks platform growing strongly to now become the second largest platforms for user payments online.

Digital TV revenue witnessed strong growth of 16.9 per cent YoY on an underlying basis, on the back of strong customer additions.

While overall customer base stood at 423 million across 16 countries, EBITDA stood at Rs 10,326 crore, up 51.7 per cent YoY.

Voice usage per customer increased to 965 million against 898 million for the telecom service operator, showing an increase of 7.5 per cent quarter to quarter.

The mobile ARPU in India business was at Rs 154 against Rs 135 QoQ, a growth of 14 per cent.

The company had posted a profit of Rs 107.2 crore in the same period a year ago. It registered a consolidated revenue of Rs 23,722.7 crore during the reported quarter against Rs 20,602.2 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2018-19.

The company has undertaken a capex investment of Rs 25,359 crore on a consolidated basis during the year to ensure superior customer experience besides front ending some investment to ensure seamless services during the ongoing pandemic.

Airtel Business witnessed a double digit revenue growth of 12.4 per cent YoY led by increased focus on connecting large enterprises, SMEs besides providing innovative solutions. Homes business continues to remain resilient and shows significant long-term promise in the wake of the new normal of work from home and social distancing established post the Covid2019 situation.

Gopal Vittal, MD-CEO, India & South Asia, said: “These are unprecedented times for every one across the world as we battle the impact of Covid2019 and its consequent impact on livelihoods. Even in this difficult time, it is our investments in network technologies coupled with our culture of customer obsession that has allowed us to keep the nation connected and serve our customers. It is abundantly clear today that telecom has played an essential role in keeping the country going. We are therefore hopeful that the government will implement the recommendations of the TRAI and the intent of the New Telecom Policy and bring down the high levels of regulatory levies and taxes that the sector is subjected to. The quarter gone by saw healthy revenue growth of 14.4 per cent YoY with mobile business growing at 21.8 per cent. This was driven by two factors – sustained momentum of 4G customer additions of over 12.5 million coupled with improved tariffs. We continue to witness strong data traffic growth of 74.1 per cent YoY. Going forward we remain committed to delivering a best in class customer experience even as we leverage our platform to build new revenue streams.”

May 19, 2020
Disney+ Hotstar could garner 25% of total online video revenue pie by 2025

MUMBAI: Disney+ Hotstar could have 25 per cent of the total online video revenue pie by 2025, second only to YouTube, according to Media Partners Asia (MPA) projections for India’s online video sector.

Such growth will be dependent on a number of key factors and growth levers, including:

1. The platform must sustain and accelerate the pace of its investment in product innovation, content creation and acquisition as well as retain its key sports rights in order to grow subscribers, drive viewership and stay ahead of aggressive global and local competition.

2. Develop new features and services including gaming & the aggregation of more local live and on-demand content as Disney+ Hotstar consolidates its position in the industry as the leading video platform for premium entertainment & sports.

3. Expand its technology and potentially brand to Southeast Asia, including large-scale emerging markets such as Indonesia and Thailand.

Disney+ Hotstar could reach 93 million paying subscribers by 2025 at monthly ARPUs under US$1, as per MPA’s base case analysis. This equates to US$587 million in subscription revenue by 2025 while advertising sales could reach US$314 million. MPA’s advertising sales assumptions are volatile due to a challenging 2020 and the uncertainty on the sports calendar in the outer years over 2024-25. MPA analysis excludes any impact from new services such as gaming or expansion to Southeast Asia.

Revenues will contract in 2020 because of the impact of Covid2019 on the advertising market with TV bearing the brunt while digital video will also come under pressure. Disney+ Hotstar’s advertisement packages are typically bundled with TV and this year is no exception.

Meanwhile, subscription through 1H 2020 has benefited from the launch of Disney+ in April. Despite the absence of the popular IPL cricket tournament, Disney+ has contributed meaningfully to premium tier subscriber growth. As a result, the Disney+ Hotstar platform has remained churn positive through the 1H 2020 period, according to MPA analysis.

Impact of Disney+ launch

Disney+ arrived in India in March 2020 at a huge discount to its global price. Since launch, the service has seen traction across Disney+ Hotstar’s premium segment where Disney brand awareness (i.e. Marvel shows and movies) is high. In the larger, more mass VIP segment, there are caches of the Disney content (i.e. kids), which have found traction.

Pricing strategy

Pricing, content mix and tech are key pillars of the Disney+ Hotstar strategy. Pricing has been important given that India’s large pay-TV universe only pays US$4 per month for a wide range of live TV channels, including sports and entertainment. Low ARPUs do not justify shorter duration packs. Therefore, the key to creating an online subscription business at scale was always anchored towards annual offers at attractive rates, in line with Hotstar’s SVOD strategy prior to 2020.

Netflix, for instance, has introduced a low-cost mobile pricing strategy to cater to the mass market, which has driven net additions since Q4 2020. MPA estimates that Netflix reached almost four million subscribers at end-April 2020 with significant growth across its mobile tier. Disney+ Hotstar’s major differentiation has been its vast aggregation of premium local and international entertainment and sports, driving its present-day addressable market to 100 million + subscribers.

Quantifying Disney+ benefits. MPA estimates indicate that Disney+ is contributing 20 per cent to Hotstar’s premium subscribers in total with upside potential of 25-30 per cent. On the VIP side, the seeds are being sowed for a more bountiful harvest, but we estimate that Disney+ has already contributed to 20-30 per cent higher volumes. Last year in 1H 2019, Hotstar had launched its VIP service in conjunction with the IPL. This year, without IPL, bolstered by Disney+, new local originals (i.e. Special Ops), and a massive library of local & international content, Disney+ Hotstar remains churn positive.

Marketing. In the absence of the IPL, marketing has been a challenge, especially because IPL has a reach of 400 million across TV and online (150 million alone on Hotstar on last year’s opening day). This year, Covid2019 has negated the impact of outdoor and print media. Digital platforms remain even more critical, and Disney+ Hotstar has relied heavily on digital marketing and Star’s own television network for targeted awareness building.

Technology

Hotstar’s tech and product has evolved considerably since its launch. Hotstar first launched in 2015 when it was owned by 21st Century Fox, a simpler time when online video only generated US$135 million in revenue and was almost entirely dominated by YouTube while the TV industry generated US$7.5 billion in revenue, including advertising and subscription. Today, internet video is on track to generate US$1.4 billion in India while TV is maturing at US$10 billion.

Hotstar’s product tech was initially built to deliver professional, high-quality curated content at scale. Its first cricket broadcast of an India vs Pakistan cricket match in January 2015 generated five million CCUs. By 2019, cricket matches on Hotstar were generating CCUs of 25 million+. In addition, Hotstar originally had to contend with ubiquitous mobile phone distribution with different specs and varying quality along with data pricing. The latter was prohibitive back in 2015 though it has become more affordable now due to a Jio-led transformation.

Subsequently, after Disney’s acquisition, Hotstar has grown personalization and search functionality as the platform has invested towards scaling its premium entertainment proposition. With the launch of Disney+, Hotstar has further retooled its platform UI and backend tech. Meanwhile, social media interactivity is growing on the platform across live sports and is set to be extended to entertainment soon.

May 19, 2020
Major FTA channels to pull out of DD Free Dish as hope for carriage fee waiver dims

MUMBAI: Businesses have been struggling to stay afloat since the Covid2019 pandemic has broken out in the country. A number of TV channels have since then been in dire straits as productions have paused, leading to a shortage of fresh content coupled with falling advertising revenue. While pay channels can still look at subscription revenue, free-to-air (FTA) channels are running out of options to chalk out a sustainable business model. As the appeal to waive off carriage fee for the public broadcaster-run DD Free Dish has fallen on deaf ears, the chances of FTA channels pulling out of the free DTH platform rise.

While Free Dish has been an inevitable part of FTA channels' strategy, the platform has also generated over Rs 400 crore of revenue on the back of these channels. After a good phase of increased reach post the new tariff order, FTA channels have entered a dark phase due to the pandemic. A consortium of those channels appealed to the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) to waive off carriage fee at least for a quarter.

Even after repeated requests, Prasar Bharati has stated that a channel can avail of deferment from the requirement of paying the carriage fee in an advance monthly statement, up to three months, subject to it furnishing separate bank guarantees towards the amount of each instalment amount with interest after availing of this deferment for three months n a letter/email dated 17 May. It has also offered to pay 67 per cent of the carriage fee for three months. But the latest notification clearly shows the pubcaster’s firm decision of not waiving off carriage fee to these troubled businesses.

FTA channels are of the view that this move will not help them in the crisis. “The expense remains the same for the channels but advertising revenue comes down at 15-20 per cent that covers only minimum expenses. It does not even cover the full salary of employees while we have decided to pay full salary to our employees. Even if the payment is deferred for three months, we don’t know from where the revenue will come. We don't want the loan but a waiver of the carriage fee. I think it won't help anyone although it depends on sustaining capacity,” Happii Digital and Broadcasting Network director Kailash Adhikari says.

“The decision of Prasar Bharati remains the same; now it's upon the broadcasters. Two to three channels are also suspended from the platform,” he adds. Asked about their plan, he says that they don’t want to withdraw currently. But he adds that if this situation prolongs, then it is a mammoth exercise for everybody in the industry.

“The new notification says they will offer deferment instead of waiver which will offer some liquidity for the short term but the main issue is after three months the burden increases. It’s small support and I think it is not going to make any material impact on the decision or business as such,” a spokesperson of a large FTA broadcaster says. He also mentions that after seeing the latest notification, it might stick to the decision of pulling out from DD Free Dish this month.

He also adds that two to three channels have already gone off. Even if some channels pay now, they can go off later after observing the situation for one month, he adds.

“This move of deferred payment and charges of interest is not something FTA channels were looking at. However, I believe the government is also under pressure to completely waive off because this was through an e-auction that was considered. Under the e-auctions and the policies, only the PMO or a minister at a higher level can take a call on this and I believe it is still unnoticed and unheard at that level,” a spokesperson from a Marathi FTA channel adds.

He notes that if advertising revenue does not fall back in proper books by the month of June, then it will become difficult for people to survive. “We are observing the situation and we believe the lockdown won’t extend beyond 31 May because it is already about 60-plus days that Maharashtra has been under lockdown. So a lot of people will try to kickstart and resume the activity as early as possible because the economy needs to be pushed,” he reflects a gleam of hope.

Notably, Swami Films Entertainment Pvt Ltd which runs two FTA channels on DD Free Dish moved the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) against Prasar Bharati for interim relief against disconnection of the channel from its DTH platform. The state broadcaster offered two more alternatives to the broadcaster. The tribunal noted that it was a fair stand with more alternatives being offered to the broadcaster.

Swami Films requested for some more time to consider the alternative reliefs as a final solution and even as an interim arrangement. TDSAT did not pass any interim order till the next date of hearing.

May 19, 2020
Zee Media confirms 28 employees test positive for Covid2019

MUMBAI: At least 28 employees of Zee Media have been tested positive for Covid2019, most of them asymptomatic, an official statement from the channel confirms. The network earlier reported one positive case, who had come in direct or indirect contact with all of these employees.

“Due to early diagnosis and pro-active intervention the network was able to detect employees who were positive and were able to break the cycle and contain the infection, in coordination with government and health authorities,” the statement reads.

The channel has shifted its team to an alternative facility for time being and the entire office, newsroom and studios have been sealed for sanitisation.

“The testing of the employees will continue and the ICMR too has relaxed its testing norms to allow us to test asymptomatic individuals,” said the statement.

Zee Media, which has 2500 employees, has assured that “our fearless coverage will continue. And, such challenges will not be able to break our resolve to discharge our duties,” it concludes.

Earlier, over 50 journalists were detected positive for the virus in Mumbai, the majority of them from the broadcast media. Similarly, 27 employees of a Tamil news channel were tested positive last month.

May 19, 2020